l\H' 



•'I;' 




Class jiV-iiL- 
Book « K OS — - 



SMALL-BOAT SAILING 



First Edition, . . . May 1901. 
Reprinted^ .... September 1901. 

Reprinted, .... July 1902. 



SMALL-BOAT SAILING 

AN EXPLANATION OF THE MANAGEMENT OF 

SMALL YACHTS, HALF-DECKED AND OPEN 

SAILING-BOATS OF VARIOUS RIGS; SAILING 

ON SEA AND ON RIVER; CRUISING, ETC 

By E. F. knight 

AUTHOR OF 'the CRUISE OF THE FALCON ; 'THE CRUISE OF THE 

alekte'; 'the falcon on the Baltic'; 'where three empires 
meet'; 'a desperate voyage'; 'sailing' (the all England 

series); 'ALBANIA AND MONTENEGRO*; 'MADAGASCAR IN 

WARTIME*; RHODESIA OF TO-DAY*; 'LETTERS FROM 

THE SUDAN," ETC 



WITH DRAWINGS BY 
H. WARINGTON SMYTH 



NEW YORK 
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 



I 






IBhIs. -.^ JL^&l*. 




In the Channel : Hove to for Dinner. 



PREFATORY NOTE 

In consequence of the severe wound received by 
Mr. Knight at the battle of Belmont, necessitating 
the amputation of his right arm, and his subsequent 
orders to accompany the Duke and Duchess of 
Cornwall and York on their Colonial voyage as 
correspondent to the Mof^ning Posty the Author was 
unfortunately greatly hindered in giving the final 
touches to his book, and was called away without 
being able to write a preface. 

In these circumstances two friends and experi- 
enced yachtsmen stepped in to his assistance, and 
we feel sure we are only carrying out what would 
be the wish of the Author in here thanking them 
for their services on his behalf 

To Mr. H. Warington Smyth the Author is 
indebted for the illustrations, most of them original, 
but some the interpretation of drawings made by 
Mr. Knight with his left hand. 



vi PREFACE 

The proofs have had the benefit of careful read- 
ing and revision by Mr. Frederick St. John Gore, 
whose practical knowledge of sailing has enabled 
him to make various suggestions for the improve- 
ment and perfecting of the book. 

As regards the book itself, little need be said. 
The skipper of the Falcon is too well known as 
a daring and experienced boat -sailer, and we 
launch his little volume in the confident belief that 
it will prove of real use to the class of yachtsmen 
for whom it is intended. 

The Publishers. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 

PAGE 

How to survey a vessel — Galvanic action — Age of a vessel . . i 
CHAPTER n 

THE EFFECT OF THE WIND ON A BOAT 

Stability — Lateral resistance — Action of the wind when a vessel 

is close-hauled — Centre of effort — Action of the rudder . .14 

CHAPTER HI 

SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 

Hawser and cable laid ropes — Worming, parcelling, and serving 
— Splicing — The various bends, hitches, and knots — 
Purchases and tackles — Racking a tackle — Selvagee strops 
— Clip-hooks 26 

CHAPTER IV 

THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

Clinker and carvel build — Construction of a boat — Ballasting — 
False keels — Bilge keels — The coble — Centre-boards — 
Lee-boards — Sailing-punts— An adventure in the Gulf Stream 
— Dipping and standing lugs — Leg-of-mutton rig . . . 42 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

OPEN SAILING-BOATS WITH BOOM-SAILS, AND 

HALF-DECKED BOATS 

PAGE 

The Una rig — Balance-reefs — The sliding-gunter — The balance- 
lug — Main and mizzen rig — The sloop — Half-decked boats . 72 

CHAPTER VI 

DECKED BOATS 

A cutter's spars, sails, standing and running rigging — Advan- 
tages of the yawl and ketch rigs 91 

CHAPTER Vn 

SEAMANSHIP 

How to set, reef, and take in sails — Getting under weigh— Full 
and bye — Tacking — Running — Jibing — Heaving- to — Bal- 
ance of sails— Sailing with wind abeam — In a Pampero — 
Coming to an anchorage and picking up moorings — The 
drogue 1 18 

CHAPTER VIII 

OPEN BOAT SAILING 

Shifting ballast — Sailing in rough water — Management of open 
boats — Beaching through a surf — Hints on river sailing — 
Working the currents — Sailing under bridges . . .157 

CHAPTER IX 

THE CRUISING YACHT 

How to ballast and fit her out — Anchors and cables — Lights — 
The compass — Swinging the vessel — Deviation of the com- 
pass — The equipment — Cooking stoves — Yacht's dinghy — 
How to tow a dinghy at sea — Collapsible boats — Sailing 
dinghies 175 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER X 

THE ART OF COASTING 

PAGB 

How to use charts — Sounding — Heaving the log — Tides — 
The barometer — Getting a slant — Weather- wisdom — Storm 
signals — Weather forecasts 194 

CHAPTER XI 

DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

Taking the departure by cross-bearings — Underbowing the tide 
— Ascertaining one's position at sea— Current sailing — Making 
a landfall — Employment of the ground-log — Running for 
shelter 222 

CHAPTER Xn 

BOARD OF TRADEjAND OTHER REGULATIONS 
AFFECTING YACHTSMEN 

Lights — Fog-signals — Rules of the road — Distress and pilot 
signals — Custom-house clearance — Ship's papers — Admiralty 
warrants— Owner's yachting certificate — Relations between 
owner and crew — Log-book — Insurance . . , . 238 

CHAPTER XIII 

TWO CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

A dhow race in the Red Sea — Down the Nile cataracts . , 266 
Index .• ... 293 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 





PAGE 




PAGE 


Hove to in the Channel frontispiece 


Topsail sheet bend 


35 


Off Venice .... 


12 


Sheepshank . 


. 36 


Centre of lateral resistance . 


17 


A set of purchases 


37 


Wind action on sails 


18 


Selvagee strop 


40 


Tacking .... 


20 


Clipbooks . . . . 


41 


Centre of effort . 


21 


Bilge keel . . . . 


48 


Wind forces .... 


22 


Yorkshire coble . 


49 


Rudder action 


24 


Ketch with lee-boards . 


53 


Serving, worming, and par- 




Lee-board fitting . 


55 


celling .... 


27 


Mount's Bay boat . 


65 


A whipped rope . 


28 


Standing lug 


66 


Short spHce .... 


29 


Spritsail 


68 


Long splice . . . 


30 


Spritsail barge 


69 


Eye splice .... 


31 


Leg-o'-Mutton sail 


70 


Cut splice .... 


31 


Leg-o'-Mutton as storm sail 


71 


Overhand knot 


32 


Una boat 


73 


Reef knot .... 


32 


Sliding Gunter rig 


77 


A 'granny' .... 


33 


Sliding Gunter fitting . 


78 


A common bend . 


33 


Balance lugsail 


80 


Two half-hitches . 


33 


Lugyard fitting 


81 


Clove hitch . 


33 


Main and mizzen . 


84 


Timber hitch 


. 33 


Sloop .... 


85 


Blackwall hitch . 


34 


Half-decked boat . 


88 


Rolling hitch 


• 34 


Reefed standing lugsail anc 




Bowline and running bow 




roller foresail 


. 90 


line .... 


• 34 


Cutter's masthead 


. 92 


Bowline on a bight 


• 34 


Cutter .... 


. 92 


Fisherman's bend . 


• 35 


Cutter's bowsprit . 


• 94 


Topsail halyard bend . 


• 35 


Jib ... . 


. 98 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



XI 





PAGE 






PAGE 


Cutter's topsail . 


99 


A Dutch schuyt . 


. 


193 


Spinnaker to port . 


100 


In the Sound 


. 


212 


Diagram of spinnaker . 


lOI 


Course set on a chart 




223 


Mainsheet fitting . 


109 


Off the Cornish coast 




237 


Foresail sheets 


III 


Chinese junks off 


Hong- 




A yawl 


114 


Kong 




265 


The Alertt's boat . 


117 


El Hamdi dhow . 




268 


A reef-earring rove 


123 


Dhow running before the 




A scowed anchor . 


150 


wind 




273 


A drogue 


153 


Dhow beating 




278 


Makeshift floating anchor 


153 


On the Nile . 




281 


Under storm trysail 


156 


Gayassa below Haifa 




282 


Sheet fastening . 


161 


A nugger 




286 


Chinese balance lugs , 


174 


A high-peaked sail 




292 



SMALL-BOAT SAILING 

CHAPTER I 

THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 

How to survey a vessel — Galvanic action — Age of a vessel. 

This work is intended for the use of the tyro who 
has little or no experience of sailing — not for the 
owner of the luxurious floating palace, but for the 
young Englishman who has a true love of the sea, 
and who, though unable to undertake long cruises 
on a smart schooner, or to race his cutter against 
the crack ships of the season, is yet ambitious 
to own and to sail single-handed his small craft, 
ready to rough it in the pursuit of his favourite 
pastime. Without doubt he who sails his own little 
vessel appreciates best all pleasures of yachting. 
*The smaller the vessel, the better the sport,' has 
long been a maxim of mine. I have sailed my own 
vessels, from the tiniest craft up to seventy-tonners, 
upon many seas ; but I think that in this particular 
sport I have got the most unadulterated delight 
out of the open boats of my boyhood, and out of 
my first five-tonner, a little yawl with which I 

A 



2 THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 

cruised single-handed, or sometimes with one friend 
on board, for thousands of miles along the shores of 
several European countries, visiting out-of-the-way 
creeks, remote islets (as on the Baltic) inhabited by- 
primitive folk, fishing havens, shallow estuaries and 
straits, and winding fiords, inaccessible to larger 
yachts, which have to make their passages from 
one well-known great seaport to another, missing 
the most interesting features of the coasts by which 
they sail. 

And how the single-handed sailor comes to love 
his little vessel ! He takes such a keen pride in 
keeping her smart without the assistance of others, 
and he is indeed jealous of their interference. 
Those who know not the delights of small-boat 
sailing sometimes dub the amusement a monotonous 
one; and, occasionally, it may certainly appear to 
be so to the ignorant spectator — much as golf does, 
for the matter of that, to the uninitiated. But there 
is no monotony for the true sailor alone with his 
yacht. Loving his craft, he does not find the time 
hang heavy, even when she floats idly in a calm — 
a position trying to the temper of those who are 
not enthusiasts of the sea. There is always some 
work to be done on board, repairs, painting, and so 
forth — a labour of love that he accomplishes with 
affectionate thoroughness ; and when that is com- 
plex- 'i he awaits the wind patiently, contemplating 
his vessel over his pipe, admiring her, and thinking 
how he can do this or that to improve her; or he 



PLEASANT MEMORIES 3 

plans fresh cruises ; or calls up pleasant memories 
of former cruises in her — of how at one time she 
showed a clean pair of heels to a craft double her 
size, and how she weathered that gale in the North 
Sea in such a year, when she behaved so well, and 
breasted with safety the steep seas by which bigger 
vessels might have been overwhelmed. No girl over 
her doll can contrive to make herself more perfectly 
happy than is the true yachtsman over his little 
ship. 

As this book is intended for the instruction of 
the amateur skipper who would command his own 
small craft — and in most cases would be skipper, 
crew, and cook in one — I shall have nothing to say 
of the larger type of pleasure-craft, but will confine 
myself to dealing with small boats of various sizes, 
from the tiniest up-river dinghy to the ten-ton cutter 
or yawl. Professional sailors often declare that no 
book can assist a man in the acquisition of seaman- 
ship. I hold that books are of far more service than 
these mariners imagine, and enable the novice to 
acquire the elements of the art of sailing far more 
rapidly than would be possible otherwise. I re- 
member well that I picked up many a wrinkle from 
books when I first took to sailing. But, of course, 
only long practice on board a craft can teach that 
self-confidence, that instinctive readiness to do the 
right thing promptly in any sudden emergency, 
without which all book-acquired theory is valueless 
at sea. 



4 THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 

The selection of a boat is the subject of my 
opening chapter. Now, it is an exceedingly difficult 
matter to select a boat for another man. An old 
sailor once truly remarked that he would as soon 
trust a friend to choose a wife for him as to select 
his craft. Each man has his own taste in the matter 
of wives and boats. None save himself knows what 
will suit him best. All one can do is to proffer him 
some advice as to the selection of his vessel, give 
him some hints which are the fruit of personal ex- 
perience, and then let him choose for himself 

As the novice, whether acting on the advice of 
friends or on his own responsibility, is almost certain 
to be dissatisfied with the first craft he may happen 
to possess, it is well that in the first instance he 
should purchase a cheap boat, so that when the 
inevitable divorce ensues the sacrifice may be the 
smaller. A small, stiff, open or half-decked boat 
snugly rigged will suit him best in the early days of 
his apprenticeship ; but of what type that boat 
should be depends not only on his own idiosyncrasies 
but on a variety of circumstances — the character of 
the waters he purposes to navigate ; whether his 
boat is to be kept on the banks of some smooth 
river or tideless lake, or on the shore of the restless 
sea ; whether the water allows of the use of a deep- 
keel boat, or whether it be so shallow that he is 
compelled to employ a craft of light draft ; whether 
he has a snug haven for his boat, or whether she 
has to be run through the breakers and beached 



THE NEED OF CAUTION 5 

on an exposed coast after each sail ; and so 
forth. 

I will suppose that the tyro has come to a decision 
as to the class of craft he requires, whether it be 
sailing dinghy or five-ton cutter, and that he is 
looking round the various boat-builders' yards to 
pick up a good second-hand craft ; for it is generally 
a mistake to have a boat built for one until one 
has gained considerable experience and understands 
exactly what one wants. Excellent second-hand 
boats can often be purchased at less than a quarter 
of what they cost to build, and yet be in all respects 
practically as good as new. 

But great caution should be observed in the 
selection. Do not be deceived by a fair exterior, 
so easily produced by a discriminate application 
of paint, putty, and oakum. Examine the vessel 
carefully before concluding the purchase, or you 
may find yourself wofully deceived. I remember, 
som.e years ago, seeing a 'great bargain' lying off 
the Mall, at Hammersmith — an unlikely place for 
a yacht. She was a cutter, of about ten tons, that 
had been purchased below bridges for a ridiculously 
small sum, by a young man of Hammersmith, 
who had no experience whatever of sailing, and 
scarcely knew one end of a boat from the other; 
but it was his ambition to become a yachtsman. 
Having bought his cutter, he had her towed up 
to Hammersmith, where she was to be fitted out. 
He modestly announced that as soon as she was 



6 THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 

ready for sea, he would take a trial trip in her 
across the Bay of Biscay to Spain — a bold first 
venture for the amateur. He invited the author 
to accompany him, but the latter could not see 
his way to avail himself of this kind offer. He 
would take no advice save from a man professing 
to be a boat-builder, who was ignorant of his work, 
but who set himself in a very leisurely fashion to 
patch the old craft up and make a good profit out 
of this callow youth. For months the work of pre- 
paration went on. The hull of the yacht was 
beautiful to the eye with glossy black paint and 
gold streak (concealing rotten planking and putty- 
filled holes). Her mast and topmast towered higher 
than those of any vessel ever before seen at 
Hammersmith ; she attracted crowds of admirers 
from the neighbouring slums. But, alas ! it was 
soon discovered that her beauty was skin deep 
indeed. Her decks, when an attempt was made to 
scrape them, came away in lumps of tinder, so that 
half the planks had to be replaced by new ones. 
Then her mast was found to be dangerously un- 
sound at the usual spot — where the spar traverses 
the deck, — so a new mast had to be bought. There 
was no end to the useless and unworkmanlike patch- 
ing : each day revealed some fresh defect ; and 
though the young man was dismayed at the ex- 
pense, his friend the boat-maker tinkered cheer- 
fully on, as sanguine as ever in his opinion that 
the craft would shortly be fit to sail to Spain. A 



A FRAUDULENT CUTTER 7 

new stern-post and rudder were found to be neces- 
sary ; a huge piece of lead was actually put on the 
rotten and loosened keel ; a new suit of sails was 
ordered for her; no expense was spared in luxuri- 
ously fitting out her cabin. At last, on coming 
down to visit her one morning at high tide, the 
dismayed owner could see nothing of his beloved 
vessel save her masts rising above the Thames's 
turbid stream. She had foundered at her moorings. 
Bumping on the hard gravel at each low tide, the 
old craft's bottom had been knocked in; for she 
could not bear the weight of her own ballast when 
unsupported by the water. The boat-builder would 
have gladly undertaken to raise her, repair her bottom, 
and make her what he was pleased to call * sea- 
worthy ' again. But the young man had had enough 
of it ; he had at last come to his senses. After 
having thrown away several hundreds of pounds — 
he might have built an excellent ten-ton cruiser 
for less — he realised that to patch up a hull so rotten 
that the bolts, when any strain was put upon them, 
dragged through the timbers as through so much 
tinder (they pulled the chain-plates out of her on 
one occasion when setting up the rigging) was a 
sheer v/aste of money, and that he could never hope 
to sail to Gravesend, far less to Spain, with such a 
craft. So he wisely abandoned her, and she was 
rapidly broken up by the wash of penny steamers 
bumping her crazy frame against the hard foreshore. 
This experience sickened him of yachting, so he 



8 THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 

deserted the water, took to the road, and bought 
himself a buggy, I trust with happier results. 

The above may be an extreme instance, and 
the young man in question was exceptionally 
green ; but I dare say that several readers of this 
work went through experiences of a somewhat 
similar description — I know well I did — when 
they first undertook to purchase cheap old yachts 
and fit them out for sea. The following are some 
of the most ordinary precautions that must be 
observed when selecting a second-hand craft; and 
if the novice have a friend experienced in nautical 
matters, he will do well to take him with him when 
the examination of the vessel on which he has set 
his affections is to be made. 

When surveying an old vessel, thrust a pen- 
knife into various portions of her planking and 
timbers in order to discover whether these be 
sound or are soft and rotten in places. Do this 
more especially in the parts most liable to decay 
— for example, in the planking between wind 
and water, in all closed and ill-ventilated places, 
as in the sail-locker, where dry-rot frequently 
appears. Closely inspect the stem and stern 
posts. As a rule, the timbers of a yacht can be 
seen by opening her cabin lockers, but in order 
to effect a more thorough examination of her 
frame, remove the ballast in places, and if possible 
take out some of the cabin panelling. If any 
repairs are in progress, observe the sawdust brought 



ADVICE TO PURCHASERS 9 

out by the gimlet; it is powdery if the wood is 
unsound. 

Examine her nails and bolts to see whether she 
be ' nail-sick,' as the sailors call it — that is, if they 
have worked loose by the straining of the vessel, 
or are corroded. Remember that to renail a vessel 
is an expensive business. 

The exterior of the vessel and the keel must 
be examined when she is high and dry. If she 
is coppered, her sheathing will reveal whether she 
has been strained, or has suffered injury by running 
aground v/ith violence. Horizontal or diagonal 
wrinkles on the copper show that the vessel has 
been strained. Vertical wrinkles, unless extending 
over a large surface, may, as a rule, be disregarded ; 
they merely show that the side has been rubbed 
against some hard surface. If the horizontal 
wrinkles are regular, and extend along a great part 
of the vessel's length, she should be condemned ; 
for these show that her frame has been so loosened 
by age or severe straining that her shape undergoes 
a considerable change when she is taken out of the 
water : she settles down, not being able to support 
her own weight. The fact that doors and lockers 
that open and shut readily when she is afloat will 
not do so when she is high and dry indicates the 
same condition. 

See whether the vessel be copper or iron fastened. 
Iron fastening is far the least expensive, and is the 
stronger so long as it lasts ; for a copper bolt, being 



10 THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 

softer, cannot be driven firmly home into hard wood 
as an iron bolt can. But, on the other hand, iron 
fastenings are apt to corrode rapidly, and an old 
iron-fastened vessel is likely to be nail-sick and to 
require refastening. 

It must not be forgotten, too, that copper and 
iron, when immersed together in sea- water, set 
up galvanic action ; so that if an iron-fastened 
vessel be coppered, even though the greatest care 
was taken to prevent contact between the metals 
when the sheathin'g was put on, the insidious 
galvanic action may be at work in places, and 
the corrosion of the iron nails will be revealed 
by the presence of iror-rust stains at the junctures 
of the copper plates. Again, if, as sometimes 
happens, the sheathing has been brought down 
into close proximity with the iron keel, the bolts 
holding the keel may be eaten through, and cases 
have been known of a vessel's keel falling off 
when she is under way, in consequence of the 
unsuspected corrosion of the bolts from this cause. 
So, too, is it when lead and iron come into contact. 
Look to the fastenings of the lead keel, if there be 
one, for if, as is often the case even with copper- 
fastened vessels, the floor-bolts be of iron, galvanic 
action may have been set up between the bolts and 
the lead ballast, and an examination may lead to 
the timely discovery that the bolt-heads are rotted 
through, and are ready to fall off. 

The great strain of a vessel's rigging comes upon 



THE AGE OF THE VESSEL ii 

the chain-plates, so the planking and timbers sur- 
rounding them should be closely inspected. An 
old or weakly constructed vessel is often deformed 
and pulled out of shape by this strain. 

Examine the masts and spars to see if they are 
rotten or sprung. Masts are most liable to be 
unsound where they pass through the deck, and 
beneath the hounds. Longitudinal cracks in spars 
are immaterial unless the fissures be of great depth. 
It is the custom to fill these cracks with putty in 
order to keep out the moisture ; take out a portion 
of the putty in places so as to ascertain whether rot 
has set up within. Transverse or diagonal cracks 
generally indicate that the spar is sprung, and 
should be condemned. If the examination of hull 
and spars proves satisfactory, there yet remains a 
careful inspection of all the equipment, the condition 
of the wire and rope rigging, the blocks and sails, the 
anchor, chain, and so forth. 

The age of the vessel must also be taken into 
consideration before completing the purchase. It 
is a risky thing to buy an old craft of, say, twenty- 
five years of age, and at any rate she should be 
most minutely surveyed. On the other hand a 
vessel that has been built of honest stuff, and has 
been well cared for, will remain sound for a great 
many years ; and if, after close examination of an 
old vessel, she proves to be in really good condition, 
you may safely trust her more than you would a 
younger boat. With boats it is as with human 



12 



THE SELECTION OF A BOAT 



beings. Even as a human life is more secure after 
it has safely passed the period of infantile ailments, 
so, too, the vessel that has knocked about for years 
is to be relied on if she still shows no symptoms 
of decay. Her original constitution must have 
been sound ; her timbers must have been properly- 
seasoned before she was put together ; she could 
not have been scamped and have been built of sappy 
rubbish. When sappy timber has been employed, 
dry-rot invariably breaks out within a few years. 




||lj}klffl«:iJIl^^ 



— -^ m 



Ofi' Venice. 



A good stout old vessel, for example, was my 
yawl, the Alerte, of fifty-six tons, yacht measure- 
ment. She was nearly thirty years old when I 
crossed the North and South Atlantic in her, and 
lay hove-to for months in the often stormy sea off 
the desert island of Trinidada, while my companions 
were on shore searching for the hidden treasure 



A GOOD BOAT 13 

which was never found. She was built by Ratsey of 
Cowes in 1864, of honest teak, in days when loving 
care was taken in the building of a boat, and scamp- 
ing was not so rife as now. Her every plank had 
been carefully selected, and had been lying seasoning 
for years in the builder's loft, ere used. When I 
bought her she was as sound throughout as when 
she first came off the stocks ; in not a single spot 
was decay visible. 



CHAPTER II 

THE EFFECT OF THE WIND ON A BOAT 

Stability — Lateral resistance — Action of the wind when a vessel 
is close-hauled — Centre of effort — Action of the rudder. 

When a boat is floating on the water with sail set, 
the wind, as will be explained in this chapter, 
produces on her various effects. It tends to heel 
her over ; to propel her forward ; to drive her side- 
ways away from the wind ; and to turn one end or 
other of her round, according to the balance of her 
sails and the distribution of her weight. 

By a scientific construction of hull, sails, and 
rudder, these different effects are so utilised or 
counteracted as to enable the helmsman to sail 
his vessel in any direction he pleases, and even to 
work the apparent miracle of making her travel 
against wind and tide combined, with the aid of his 
canvas only. Those who wish to master the whole 
theory of sailing, and the scientific adaptation of a 
vessel to the forces of wind and water, must be 
referred to larger works than this. The principles 
that govern the arts of sailing and boat-building are 



HEELING— STABILITY 1 5 

fully and clearly set forth in Mr. Dixon Kemp's 
books. It is the author's intention in this chapter 
to confine himself to the elements of a subject con- 
cerning which every would-be sailor should know 
something; for in the art of sailing, as in every 
other art, the novice who takes the trouble to 
understand a little of the theory, will all the quicker 
acquire the practice. 

HEELING — STABILITY 

One of the above-mentioned effects of the wind 
on a sailing-boat is to heel her over. This effect, 
being wholly antagonistic to the object for which a 
boat is built — her forward progression — has to be 
resisted by giving her sufficient stability. Most of 
us remember how the model boats we used to carve 
out of blocks of deal in our boyhood lacked stability 
when placed in the water, and, refusing to float 
upright, swam on their sides until we had placed 
lead on their keels. If a boat is long and narrow, 
it is as impossible for her to maintain an upright 
position in the water as for a plank to float on its 
edge, for in that position her centre of gravity is 
high above the water-line ; she is^ in short, top-heavy, 
and must fall over till she assumes a position in 
which she is in stable equilibrium. 

To give her stability, therefore, her centre of 
gravity must be lowered. This is done by placing 
ballast in her bottom, or by putting lead or iron on 



i6 EFFECT OF THE WIND ON A BOAT 

her keel ; and it is obvious that the lower the weight 
the more effective it will be. A deep boat with a 
heavy lead keel cannot capsize. She heels over 
readily to the wind at first, but becomes stiffer as 
the angle increases ; for the more she heels over to 
the wind, with the greater leverage does her lead 
keel tend to right her again, and the greater force 
must the wind exert in order to heel her further. 
A Lake Windermere yacht, for example, can heel 
over till she lies flat on her beam ends, and yet 
rights herself briskly the moment the pressure of the 
squall diminishes. 

On the other hand, a broad, shallow boat needs 
no ballast to enable her to float upright. Thus the 
ordinary, beamy, flat-floored, cat-boat of America, 
with its wooden centre-board, is as often as not 
sailed without ballast. Such a boat is very stiff at 
first ; she does not heel readily ; but having no 
heavy keel to right her, she capsizes so soon as she 
has heeled beyond a certain angle. 

Of the effects of the wind on a vessel, the one 
which has to be utilised to the utmost extent is 
the propelling effect ; therefore every boat is con- 
structed so that the water may offer the least 
resistance to her forward motion. Thus the bow 
is made sharp, like a wedge, so that it cuts through 
the water easily and with little friction ; while the 
stern is tapered off gently — the boat, if she be 
properly built, having what is termed a clean run, 
which enables the water to glide away from her 



LATERAL RESISTANCE— LEEV/AY 17 

stern without fuss, instead of forming a following 
wave to act as a drag on her speed, as is the case 
if the stern be finished off too abruptly. 



LATERAL RESISTANCE— LEEWAY 

But when a boat is sailing with the wind on iier 
side, the effect of the wind is not only to drive 
her forwards, but sideways as well, and she makes 
what is called leeway. A boat of VQvy shallow draft 
will, when close-hauled, drift bodily to leeward, and 
make, no headway at all. This tendency to make 
leeway has to be checked as much as possible by 
increasing the lateral resistance 
of the water ; and this 1^ done 
by giving the boat a deep keel 
or a centre-board, or by other- 
wise providing an extensive area of lateral surface 
below the water-line. 

The lateral resistance opposed by the water to 
a ship's side acts through a point which is, roughly 
speaking, the centre of the immersed portion of the 
vessel's side, and this point is term.ed the Centre of 
Lateral Resistance. Thus, in Fig. i, a is the centre 
of lateral resistance. A rope made fast to the 
vessel's side at this point would tow her broadside 
on ; but were it madeTast before or aft of that 
point, the resistance would be greater on one side 
than on the other, and the rope would pull either 
the stern or the bow round, as the case might be. 

B 




i8 EFFECT OF THE WIND ON A BOAT 

It will be explained further on how the centre of 
lateral resistance has to be taken into account 
when the arrangement of the sail-plan is being 
determined. 



Wy 



ACTION OF THE WIND WHEN THE VESSEL IS 
CLOSE-HAULED 

It is easy to understand how a sailing-boat can 
travel before a favourable wind, but it would at first 
sight seem contrary to the laws of dynamics that 
a boat should be able to sail close-hauled — that is, 
in a direction opposed to the wind, which serves as 
the propelling force. A boat, with a sufficiently 
deep keel to check the tendency to make leeway, 

can sail within 45° of 
the wind. In Fig. 2 
is represented the 
deck-plan of a boat 
sailing close-hauled. 
The direction of the 
wind is shown by the 
arrow W. AB is the 
sail, so trimmed as 
just to hold the wind without shaking. Now it can 
be mathematically demonstrated that the wind, so far 
as it affects the motion of the vessel, exerts a horizon- 
tal pressure on the sail, acting in a direction at right 
angles to the plane of the sail — that is, in the direction 
AC. This force, it v/ill be observed, while pressing 
the boat sideways, tends also to a lesser extent to 




Fig. 2 



CLOSE-HAULED 19 

propel her in a forward direction. The old friend 
of our youthful studies, the parallelogram of forces, 
enables us to resolve the force AC into its two 
component forces, and to estimate their relative 
magnitudes. Let GF be the line of the keel. From 
C draw CD perpendicular to GF, and complete the 
parallelogram ADCE. Then if DC represents the 
magnitude of the force driving the vessel sideways, 
AD will represent the magnitude of the force 
propelling her forward in the direction FG. The 
closer to the wind a vessel sails, the greater will be 
the disproportion between these two forces ; and 
the tyro will soon discover that if he flattens his 
sheets too close and attempts to squeeze his craft 
too near the wind, so , small a proportion of the 
wind's force will be exerted in propelling his vessel 
in a forward direction that she will practically stand 
still. A comparison of Figs. 2 and 3 will demon- 
strate this. In Fig. 2 the boat is sailing as near the 
wind as she can, so that the force DC is far greater 
than the force AD, and she will have little headway. 
In Fig. 3 the boat is sailing with the wind a little 
before the beam, so that the propelling force AD is 
about equal to DC, and she will be travelling fast. 
As has already been explained, a boat is so con- 
structed as to offer the least possible resistance to 
the propelling force AD, and, on the other hand — 
by giving her as large an immersed horizontal 
section as possible — to offer the utmost resistance 
to the lateral force DC. 



20 EFFECT OF THE WIND ON A BOAT 



TACKING 



It has been explained that a properly constructed 
boat can sail within 45° of the wind. If the wind be 
right ahead, or nearly so, what is known as tacking 
must be resorted to ; that is, the boat is made to 
sail for a certain distance close-hauled with the 
wind on one side, and is then made to turn and sail 
^ close-hauled with the wind on 

^ / /^ ^^^ other side. When sailing 



\ 



with the wind on her right side 

she is said to be on the star- 

\ \ board tack ; with the wind on 

Vv '^^^ th^ l^ft si<^^ she is on the port 

> V tack. In Fig. 4 a boat is tack- 

/p Y ^"g right in the teeth of the 

/ \ wind, represented by the arrow 

^^i W. She sails the same distance 

\ on each tack, each tack being 

at about right angles to the last. 

Fig. 4. Fig. 5. j^^ pj^^ ^ ^j^^ ^-^^^ jg ^^^ ^.j^j^^. 

ahead, but a little on one side of the vessel's course. 
To attain the desired point, she is therefore made to 
sail further on one tack than she does on the other, 
making what the sailors call a long and a short leg. 

CENTRE OF EFFORT 

Of the various effects of the wind upon the sails 
of a vessel, the last we have to deal with is its 



CENTRE OF EFFORT 



21 



tendency to blow either the vessel's bow or stern 
round, if the sails are not properly balanced. If, 
for example, a boat sailing with the wind abeam 
carry too much sail forward — and more especially if 
the leverage of the head sail, as is the case with a 
jib, be increased by setting it at the end of a long 
bowsprit — the boat's bow will be driven off the 
wind, and the steersman will have to counteract 
this tendency with the rudder. 

Now, the wind exerting a side pressure on a 
boat's sail, or sails, acts through a point known as 
the centre of effort oi\\\Q sails 
— a point which is, roughly 
speaking, in the centre of the 
total sail area. It has already 
been explained that the re- 
sistance of the water to a 
vessel's leeway acts through 
a point in the centre of the 
submerged section of the 
ship's side, known as the centre of lateral resistance. 
These two horizontal forces act in opposite direc- 
tions ; consequently, unless as in Fig. 6, A, the 
centre of effort of the sails, and B, the centre of 
lateral resistance, are in the same vertical line, so 
that the opposing forces balance each other, the 
vessel will have a tendency to turn either her bow 
or her stern towards the wind. 

In Fig. 7 we have a vessel sailing close-hauled. 
Here B, the centre of lateral resistance, is further aft 




Fig. 6. 



22 EFFECT OF THE WIND ON A BOAT 





Fig. 7. 



Fig. 8. 



than the centre of effort A. Now, it is obvious that 
two forces acting at A and B, in the direction of 

the arrows, will tend to tufn 
the vessel's bow round in 
the direction of C — that is, 
away from the wind. 

In Fig. 8, on the other 
hand, the centre of lateral 
resistance is further forward 
than the centre of effort; 
consequently the vessel's 
bow will have a tendency 
to turn towards the wind in 
the direction D. 
When a vessel's bow shows a tendency to run up 
into the wind, she is said to carry weather helm ; 
when she shows a tendency to fall off before the 
wind, she is said to carry lee helm. A sailing-boat 
should always carry a little weather helm ; then, 
if a squall strike her when she has little steerage- 
way and the rudder is useless, she will take care 
of herself, luff quickly up into the wind, and so be 
in safety. A boat carrying lee helm would, in the 
same conditions, fall off before the wind, presenting 
her broadside to wind and wave, and so probably 
capsize. 

The novice, who has carefully read this chapter, 
will understand what principles should guide him 
when he sets to work to correct whichever of the 
two faults his craft may display — lee helm or 



1 



ACTION OF THE RUDDER 23 

excessive weather helm — for the latter makes it 
necessary to keep the rudder over to leeward at 
a sharp angle, thus offering great resistance to the 
water and checking the boat's speed. 

A boat carries weather helm when the centre of 
lateral resistance is further forward than the centre 
of effort of the sails. 

A boat carries lee helm when the centre of lateral 
resistance is further aft than the centre of effort of 
the sails. 

Thus to reduce weather helm we can either move 
the centre of lateral resistance further aft or the 
centre of effort of the sails further forward. By 
shifting the ballast so as to lighten the vessel for- 
ward, and make her heavier aft, we increase the 
submerged area of her after section, and so move 
back the centre of lateral resistance. By shortening 
her after canvas, as by taking in her mizzen, or by 
increasing her head canvas, as by setting a larger 
jib, the centre of the effort of the sails is moved 
forward. 

Again, if it be found that a boat carry lee helm 
under canvas, it shows that either her ballast must 
be shifted forward, or that the area of her head 
canvas must be reduced. 

ACTION OF THE RUDDER 

The action of the rudder is not difficult to under- 
stand. By its aid the sailor can steer his vessel in 
the required direction, and if she carry — as she 



24 EFFECT OF THE WIND ON A BOAT 

should do — slight weather helm, he counteracts this, 
and keeps her on her course, by putting his tiller a 
little over to the weather side of the boat, and so 
pushing the rudder over to the lee side. 

A reference to Fig. 9 will make clear the action 
of the rudder. Here the rudder has been pushed 
over to the port, or left, side of the vessel. The 
resistance of the water flowing by it acts in the 
direction of the arrovv^, at right angles to the rudder's 
surface. This force is resolvable into two other 
forces, one pushing the boat backwards, and the 
other driving the boat's stern side- 
ways to starboard — that is, to the 
right, and consequently turning the 
bow to port. But the axis on which 

II ^y \ the boat turns when the rudder is 
/ /\ I placed at an angle with the keel is 
always considerably forward of the 
^^^' ^" centre of the boat, so that the stern 

of the boat is moved sideways a greater distance 
than the bow. This will be apparent on referring to 
Fig. 9, in which X is the centre of rotation, while 
the dotted line shows the movement the boat has 
made in response to her tiller. It is important to 
remember this fact when steering close to a boat or 
other object ; for when one puts over the helm in 
order to keep one's bow clear of the object, one is 
very apt by that very action to bring one's stem 
into collision with it. 

Some boats do not readily obey their rudders. 




ANSWERING THE HELM 25 

are slow in turning, and describe the segment of a 
large circle in doing so. A boat with its ballast 
stowed amidships will answer her helm more quickly 
than one in which the ballast is distributed through- 
out her length. A boat that draws little water at 
either extremity, and in which the lateral resistance 
of the water is concentrated on a deeply immersed 
midship section, will answer her helm more quickly 
than a boat whose area of immersed surface is more 
evenly distributed along the boat's length. 



CHAPTER III 

SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 

Hawser and cable laid ropes — Worming, parcelling, and serving — 
Splicing — The various bends, hitches, and knots — Purchases and 
tackles — Racking a tackle — Selvagee strops — Clip-hooks. 

To be familiar with the knots, bends, splices, 
purchases, in common use at sea is an indispensable 
qualification for the man who would command his 
own little vessel ; for not only must he know how 
to handle the various ropes connected with his 
rigging, belay his sheets and halyards in orthodox 
fashion, tie his reef-points with the proper knot, and 
so forth, but he should also be able to effect all 
ordinary repairs on his rigging — to put a long splice 
in a broken halyard, for example, or to re-strop a 
block. This chapter by no means deals fully with 
this branch of our subject, but it should enable the 
amateur sailor to acquire a knowledge of the ropes 
sufficient for all practical purposes. 

The cordage employed on a small craft is what is 
known as Hawser-LAID. If a hawser-laid or right- 
hand rope (as it is also called) is opened out, it will 
be found to consist of three strands^ each strand 
being formed of several yarns, or threads of hemp 



A CABLE-LAID ROPE 



27 



twisted together. It is laid * with the sun ' — that is, 
the strands are twisted together from right to left, 
the sun's apparent course to one facing north. A 
hawser-laid rope should be coiled from right to left, 
with the sun ; for if coiled in the reverse direction 
it will kink, and cannot be made to form a neat and 
snug coil. 

A Cable-laid rope is made of three hawser-laid 
ropes twisted together from left to right, against 
the sun, and it must be coiled from left to right. 

The eyes of the rigging, the forestay, and other 
parts of rigging liable to be chafed, should be 
WORMED, PARCELLED, and SERVED (see Fig. 10). 



I Serving j Parcelling \ Wormirji^ 




Fig. 10. 



To worm is to lay spun -yarn in the groove between 
the strands of a rope, so that a smooth surface is 
obtained on which the parcelling can be evenly laid. 
To parcel is to wind narrow strips of well-tarred 
canvas round the wormed rope, following the lay 
of the rope, that is, the spiral formed by the strands. 
Serving a rope consists of winding spun-yarn round 
the rope, over the parcelling ; it is laid against the 
lay of the rope. While it is being wormed, parcelled, 
and served, the rope should be stretched out as taut 



28 SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 

as possible, one end being made fast to the bits or 
other convenient place, while the other end is hauled 
out with a tackle. If the rope is a large one, the 
serving is laid on with a serving mallet. 

The free ends of all ropes should be WHIPPED 

(Fig. ii) so as to prevent their unravelling. To 

. do this lay one end of a piece of 

t^^^^^^^^^i tarred spun-yarn along the end 

Fig. II. Qf ^i^g j.Qpg . ^in^j the spun-yarn 

(working upwards towards the end of the rope) 
several times tightly round the rope and over the 
end of the spun-yarn, thus gripping the latter. 
Make a loop of the remaining portion of the spun- 
yarn, and lay the end of this loop on the rope, 
pointing downwards away from the rope's end. 
Then take three or four more turns with the spun- 
yarn round the rope and over the loose end of the 
yarn. Pull the yarn-end taut until the loop is 
closed, and cut the ends short off. 

In the following description of the splices, knots, 
etc., certain terms will be employed which it will 
be well to define beforehand. The standing part 
of a rope is the part held in the hand ; the end is 
that end of the rope in which the knot, or bend, is 
to be made ; the bight is the loop formed when 
making a knot, or bend. 

When two rope-ends have to be joined per- 
manently, this is neatly effected by the various 
splices employed by sailors. 

A Short Splice (Fig. 12) is thus made: The 




A SHORT SPLICE 29 

two rope-ends that have to be joined are unlaid 
for a few inches, so that the three strands of 
which each rope is formed are separated. Each 
strand-end is greased and twisted up into a point 
so that it can be easily manipulated. Then the 
three strands of one 
rope are so placed 
across the three 
strands of the other 
rope that each strand 
lies closely between 
two strands of the 
rope opposite. Each 

strand is then passed under the next strand but 
one to it, of the opposite rope, and is drawn tightly 
through. The process is repeated, and as a rule 
each strand is, in all, drawn three times through 
the alternate strands; but before being passed 
through for the last time it is tapered, so as to give 
the splice a neater appearance, by cutting off half 
the yarns composing it. Lastly, the loose ends are 
cut off and the spliced part of the rope is hammered 
into shape with a mallet. In order to open the 
strands out so as to make way for the ends to pass 
through, a marlinespike or pricker — which should 
be well greased — is employed. 

When two ropes are connected by a short splice, 
the spliced part is thicker than the rope itself But 
if the ropes are joined by a LONG Splice, the 
spliced portion is no thicker than the rope, and can 



30 SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 

therefore be rove through any block which will 
take the rope. Consequently the long splice must 
always be used for repairing a halyard, sheet, or 
other part of the rigging which has to run through 
blocks. 

A Long Splice is thus made: The two ropes 
that are to be joined are unlaid for at least four 
times as far as would be the case if making a short 
splice. The strands are brought together as in 
the short splice; then one strand of each rope 
{a, a, in Fig. 13) is unlaid for a still further distance 



Fig. 13. 



sssssa 




Fig. 14. 



(about half as far again). This leaves two grooves 
in the rope, which are next filled up by neatly lay- 
ing in each of them the opposite central strands 
b, b. This brings the strands together in pairs in 
three places as in Fig. 14. At these three points 
the strands are reduced in thickness by cutting 
off half the yarns, as when completing a short 



THE ART OF SPLICING 



31 



splice. Each pair of strands is tied in an over- 
hand knot, and the ends are tucked under the 
alternate strands opposite as in a short splice. The 
rope is, lastly, well stretched with tackle, and 
the projecting ends of the divided strands are 
cut off. 

When a rope's end has to be spliced round a 
block or thimble, an Eye-splice (Fig. 15) is em- 
ployed. To make this, the end of the 
rope is unlaid and the strands are spliced 
into the standing part of the rope in the 
same way as when making a short splice. 

A Cut-splice (Fig. 16) is formed with 
two ropes by splicing the end of each 
into the standing par^ of the other as 
in an eye-splice. On a small yacht the 
shrouds are sometimes fitted over the 
hounds with a cut-splice, and this is neater than 
having two shrouds with a separate eye in each. 

If one strand of a rope be cut through, the 
damage can be made good by removing a long 
piece of the injured 
strand and by laying 
in the groove thus 
left a new strand 
from another piece 
of similar rope. The ends are then knotted, halved, 
and turned under, as when making a long splice. 

A Grommet, a useful rope-ring, is thus made : 
A strand is removed from a rope, care being taken 




Fig. 15. 




Fig. 16. 



32 SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 

to preserve its spiral score, which serves as a guide 
in the construction of the grommet. One end of 
the strand is bent round and laid on the standing 
part so as to form a ring of the required size. Then 
the other end is wound round this ring twice, fitting 
into the score, and so forming a three-stranded rope. 
The ends are knotted, halved, and turned under as 
in a long splice. 

The following are the more useful knots, bends, 
and hitches employed at sea for temporarily attach- 
ing ropes. They are all ingeniously contrived so as 
to hold securely and not to slip, while they can yet 
be undone easily and quickly, and do not jam like 

some of the wonderful 

and inextricable knots 

the greenhorn is apt 

to tie when carrying 

^'^•'7- outanorder in ahurry. 

The Overhand Knot (Fig. 17) is the knot which, 

as has already been stated, is tied in the strands 

when completing a long splice or a grommet. 

Fig. 18 is a Reef Knot. The reef-points of a sail 
are tied up with this knot, and it is also frequently 

, of service for other 

purposes. It consists 
^^^- '^- of two overhand knots. 

In tying the second knot care must be taken so to 
cross the ends that the standing part and end of 
each rope pass through the bight of the other rope 
together, and not from opposite sides, as they do in 




HITCHES 



33 





the Granny^ of which a diagram is given (Fig. 19), so 

as to show the novice what he must studiously avoid 

making if he would 

avoid much chaff from 

the older hands. 
The Common Bend ^'°- ^^^ 

(Fig. 20) is useful for bending two ropes together. 

A bight is made with the end of one rope. The 

end of the other rope is passed 

through the bight, round both 

parts of the bight, and under 

its own standing part. The 

bend is then pulled taut. 

Two Half Hitches (Fig. 21) are used for bend- 
ing a rope to a spar, a bpat's painter to a dolphin, 
or a mooring-ring on the 
quay, etc. 

A Clove Hitch (Fig. 
22) is used to make fast a 
small rope to a larger stand- 
ing rope or to a spar. Thus 
the ratlines are tied to the 
shrouds with clove hitches. 
When a rope has to be 
bent on a spar quickly, this 

can be done by means of a Timber Hitch (Fig. 23). 

When jammed tight it will not slip ; yet it can be 

cast off in a moment. 

When a rope has to be attached temporarily to 

a hook {e.g. to the hook of a tackle) in order to get 

C 




Fig. 21. 




Fig. 22. 




34 SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 



a pull on it, a Blackwall HitcH (Fig. 24) is 
employed. 




Fig. 26. 




Fig. 25. 

When a rope has to be made 

fast to another rope in order to 

haul upon it, a ROLLING HiTCH 

(Fig. 25) is used, as this will not 

slip down if properly made. Thus, 

when a shroud has to be hauled 

out taut for setting up, the tail end 

Fig. 27. of the tackle is fastened to the 

shroud with this hitch. In the figure 

the hitch appears with its parts loose ; 

but these, of course, have to be drawn 

together and jammed before applying 

the strain. 

To form a loop in a rope that will 
not slip or jam, a Bowline Knot is 
employed. To make this knot (Fig. 26) 
a little practice is required. 

In a Running Bowline (Fig. 27) 
the loop made by the bowline knot runs, 
upon the standing part of the rope, thus forming a 
running noose. 




Fre. 28. 



A SHEEPSHANK 



35 



A Bowline on a Bight (Fig. 28) is a bowline 
made after a different fashion on the doubled rope. 
It is used when the knot has to be made in the 
middle of the rope at a distance from the ends. 

With a Fisherman's Bend (Fig. 29) a rope can 
be very securely fastened to an anchor shackle, or 




Fig. 29. 

mooring-ring. When employed for bending one's 
cable on to the anchor, the end of the rope should 
be seized on the standing part, as in the figure, with 
a piece of stout twine. 

Gaff topsail halyards are generally bent on the 
topsail yard with a TOPSAIL HALYARD Bend, which 
cannot slip if properly 
made and drawn close. 
This bend (Fig. 30) is 
made by taking three 
turns round the yard with 
the halyard, leading it 
back over the standing part, under the three turns, 
and back under the first turn. 

The topsail sheet is bent to 
the cringle of the topsail with a 
Topsail Sheet Bend (Fig. 31). 

A Sheepshank (Fig. 32) is 
employed to shorten a rope tern- F'g- 31. 

porarily, e.g. a topmast shroud, when the topmast is 




Fig. 30. 




36 SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 

lowered. On most yachts, however, nowadays, wire 
topmast shrouds are used instead of hemp ones, each 
shroud having two joints, so that when the 
topmast is housed, the lowest joint is un- 
shackled and stowed away, and the upper 
joint, being just of the right length, is set up 
with the tackle or lanyards. 

There are various tackle and purchases 
employed on a yacht's rigging, by which 
mechanical advantage is gained ; but of 
course what is gained in power is lost in 
time. Thus a system of pulleys that enables 
a pull of five pounds to raise fifty pounds, 
involves the hauling of ten times the length 
of rope through the blocks than would be 
Fig. 32. ^Y^Q case were no purchase used. On a small 
yacht, therefore, where it is important that sails 
should be hoisted and lowered quickly, no purchase 
should be more powerful than is absolutely necessary, 
that is, it should just enable one man to do the 
particular work for which it is employed. To over- 
block a little yacht entails a delay in every opera- 
tion, and an increased risk of ropes jamming. 

The following are the tackles and purchases in 
common use on small yachts : — 

The Single-Whip Purchase (Fig. 33) has a 
single block. This is the purchase employed for the 
fore and jib halyards of a small cutter; the block, 
as is explained in the chapter on a cutter's riggings 
being hooked on to the cringle of the sail. A pull 



TACKLES AND PURCHASES 



37 



of one pound on the hauling part puts a strain of 
two pounds on the block. 

The Whip-upon-Whip Purchase (Fig. 34) is 
employed for the preventer backstays on small 
cutters. A pull of one pound on the hauling part 
exerts a force of four pounds at the upper block. 




Fig. 33. 



Fig. 34. 



Fig. 35. 




Fig. 36. 



The Gun-Tackle Purchase (Fig. 35) has two 
single blocks with the standing part of the rope 
made fast to the upper block. A pull of one pound 
on the hauling part exerts a force of three pounds 
at the upper block. This purchase can be employed 
for bowsprit shrouds, main tack tricing line, etc. 

A Luff-Tackle Purchase (Fig. 36) has the 
same power as the whip-upon-whip purchase. It has 
one single and one double block, the standing part 



38 SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 

of the tackle being fastened to the single block. It 
is used for a variety of purposes, among others for 
the main sheet on a small cutter. 

A Watch Tackle is a luff tackle with a tail— 
a rope some feet in length — on the double block, 
and a hook on the single block. A watch tackle 
should always be kept in some convenient place 
on a yacht's deck, for it is employed on all sorts 
of odd jobs when more 'beef is wanted. It 
is indeed almost worth an extra hand on board, so 
sailors dub it the * Handy Billy.' Among other 
things it is useful for setting up the rigging. It is 
employed as follows : the single block is hooked on 
to a ring-bolt on deck, or to a strop or bight of a 
rope secured to the bits or other strong piece of 
timber ; while the tail of the double block is fastened 
by a rolling hitch (see Fig. 25) to the shroud or rope 
which has to be hauled taut. 

Power can be multiplied when necessary, by clap- 
ping one purchase on another. A Luff-upon-Luff 
TacklCy for example, is formed with two watch tackles 
by bending the tail of the double block of the second 
tackle on the fall of the first tackle. A pull of one 
pound on the hauling part will then exert a force of 
sixteen pounds at the further end of the tackle. 

If some accident happen to one part of a tackle 
or purchase — if a strand be chafed through, for 
example — and it becomes necessary to repair the 
damage, while at the same time it is undesirable to 
slack up the tackle, or to take it from the work it is 



A SELVAGEE STROP 39 

doing {e.g. in the case of a yacht's halyards or sheets 
during a close race), the tackle can be racked while 
the repair is being carried on. Thus, if the hauling 
part of the throat halyards be cut, the other three 
or more parts of the halyards are racked by passing 
a piece of thin line round and between them several 
times tightly, and then tying the two ends of the 
line together with a reef knot. This grips the parts, 
prevents the halyard from running through the 
blocks, and enables them to hold on and withstand 
the strain put upon them, while the injured part is 
cast loose and repaired at leisure. 

Some of the blocks used on board a yacht — those, 
for example, which are hooked on to the mast for 
the throat and peak halyards — are usually stropped 
with iron ; and in the neatly finished blocks, the 
iron is covered by the shell of the block. But for 
other parts of the rigging ordinary blocks are em- 
ployed ; and the amateur sailor should know how to 
splice an eye in the end of a piece of hemp or wire 
rope for the strop of a tail block, and how to make 
a grommet, or a selvagee strop. 

I have already explained how to splice an eye 
in a rope, and how to make a grommet. For strop- 
ping a block a Selvagee STROP is to be preferred 
to a grommet, though both are used for this purpose. 
A selvagee strop is thus made : two large nails are 
firmly driven into a piece of board at a distance 
apart of about half the circumference of the required 
strop. One end of a ball of rope-yarn is fastened 



40 SPLICES, KNOTS, AND TACKLES 




to one of the nails, and the yarn is wound round 
the two nails (see Fig. 37) as tightly as possible, 

until the ring 

thus formed 

is sufficiently 

stout. Then 

the yarns are 

tied together, 

Fig. 37. or marled, at 

short intervals, with twine, and lastly the strop is 

well stretched with tackle. 

Grommets made of wire rope can be advantage- 
ously employed on a small vessel for the strops of 
the main-sheet blocks, as such grommets cannot 
stretch so much as to allow the blocks to slip 
through them — a not infrequent accident, and a very 
awkward one, when a rope strop is used. 

All strops, whether of rope or wire, whether 
selvagee strops, grommets, or eye-splices, should be 
coated with canvas, or, better still, with leather. 
If coated with canvas, the strop should be painted ; 
if leather is employed, it should be sewn on the 
strop wet, as it will shrink when dry, and so fit 
tightly to the strop. 

It is well to have a swivel or revolving hook on 
one of the blocks of any movable tackle forming 
part of the rigging, for example, on the tackle of 
the runners and of the preventer backstays. This 
will enable turns to be taken out of the tackle 
without unhooking it. 



CLIP-HOOKS 



41 




Galvanised Clip-HOOKS (Fig. 38) should be spliced 
into the ends of such parts of rigging as have fre- 
quently to be hooked and unhooked. When hooking 
a clip-hook to an eye, 
the two parts of the 
clip-hook are opened j\ 

out; they are then ^_^«><^^ 
closed over the eye, 
one part overlapping 
the other. The two 
parts should always 
be seized together, f^g- 38. 

else they may shake open and release the eye. 
Mousing is the sailor's name for this operation. 

In Fig. 38 is shown the method usually employed 
on small boats for hooking the jib-sheets on to the 
clew of the jib by means of clip-hooks. The sheets 
are formed by one rope, in the middle of which the 
eye of the clip-hooks is seized with strong twine. 
Clip-hooks are more convenient than the wooden 
toggles often used for jib-sheets, and are also to be 
preferred to spring clip -hooks, which are apt to shake 
open despite the spring which is supposed to keep 
them closed. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

Clinker and carvel build — Construction of a boat — Ballasting — False 
keels — Bilge keels — The coble — Centre-boards — Lee-boards — 
Sailing-punts — An adventure in the Gulf Stream — Dipping and 
standing lugs — Leg-of-mutton rig. 

A SMALL boat that can be sailed single-handed 
without difficulty, and which is easy to row — so that, 
if the wind fails, one can put out the sculls and pull 
her along at a fair pace — is the best sort of craft 
on which the novice can pass his early apprentice- 
ship. That he can lower his canvas if he finds 
himself in a difficulty, and take to his oars, consider- 
ably lessens the risk consequent on his inexperience. 
This chapter will be confined to the description 
of open boats only, of various sorts ; for a boat so 
small that she can be easily rowed should not be 
covered in, nor be half-decked. A half-decked boat 
— that is, one decked in the bows and stern, and 
having a narrow deck with coamings on either side — 
is in some respects safer than an open boat ; if 
struck by a squall she can heel over to a much 
greater angle without shipping water than vrould 
be possible were she open. But when a small boat 



DISADVANTAGES OF DECKING 43 

is thus half-decked, her owner is apt to imagine 
that he is in possession, not of a boat, but of a 
small yacht, and is likely to over-spar her, over- 
ballast her, and over-canvas her, consequently to 
over-sail her. She will no longer be the sort of 
boat I am now recommending — one easy to sail and 
easy to row. The decking occupies more room than 
can well be spared in a small boat, and one is 
cramped on board. The decking is also weighty, 
and tends to make the boat topheavy, so that to 
counteract this she requires more ballast and 
becomes a heavy boat, difficult to beach, hard to 
pull, wet in a seaway. On many parts of the coast 
fishermen have a strong objection to decking even 
the bows of their small craft, and maintain that 
the deck offers great resistance to the wind, so 
that the vessel is pressed down, and is not nearly 
so buoyant as if she were open. It is certain that, 
other things being equal, the open boat is the live- 
liest and the best sea boat. The half-decked boat 
is only to be recommended when the craft is big 
enough to be practically a small yacht, with a cuddy 
under the decking forward. The above remarks, of 
course, do not apply to boats intended for racing. 
These, however small, must, as a rule, be heavily 
ballasted, and may be partly decked. 

The following observations apply to small sailing 
and rowing boats of all classes : — 



44 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

CLINKER AND CARVEL BUILT BOATS 

Small boats are generally clinker-JDuilt. In a 
clinker-built boat the planks overlap each other, 
whereas a carvel-built boat presents a smooth sur- 
face. The clinker-built boat has very light frame- 
work to support the planking. The -carvel-built 
boat is put together much in the same way as a 
big vessel — that is, she has a framework of solid 
timbers to which the planking is fastened. 

The carvel-built boat has the following advantages 
over the clinker-built boat : — She is much stronger, 
will last longer, and is more easily repaired ; thus, 
if a portion of her planking has been damaged, it 
can be easily replaced, whereas, it is difficult to 
patch the planking of a clinker-built boat. When 
the carvel-built craft lies at anchor, the tide ripples 
almost silently along her smooth sides, whereas 
against the irregular surface of the clinker-built boat 
the water ever splashes noisily, and at night is apt 
to disturb the slumbers of one unaccustomed to 
roughing it on a small boat. 

On the other hand, the clinker-built boat is much 
cheaper than the carvel-built ; she is lighter — an 
important consideration when a boat is intended 
for rowing and for hauling up on a beach. The 
clinker-built boat is also more buo\ ant and lively 
in a seaway ; for the edges of the overlapping planks 
extending horizontally and facing downwards offer 
considerable resistance to the water, so that the boat 



CONSTRUCTION OF THE BOAT 45 

is lifted by every wave. When everything is taken 
into consideration, there can be little doubt that for 
the class of boats with which I am dealing in this 
chapter the clinker-build is to be preferred. 



CONSTRUCTION OF THE BOAT 

Remember, when selecting your craft, that a boat 
constructed of pine or Swedish fir is not only the 
cheapest, but is also the lightest, and, ceteris paribus^ 
should out-sail and out-row a boat built of heavier 
material ; but, on the other hand, she will not last 
long, and the soft wood readily gets torn and bruised. 
The top streak of a fir-built boat should be of cedar, 
or of some hard wood. 

If the boat is to be frequently beached or sub- 
jected to other rough treatment, it is better that 
she should be built of elm or oak. 

BALLASTING 

The ballast of a small boat, more especially if 
she has to be frequently drawn up on a beach, 
should be so arranged that it can be readily 
removed. Iron or lead blocks, of half a hundred- 
weight each, with handles to them, are a very con- 
venient form of ballast for a small boat; for they 
can be easily lifted out. Battens should be fastened 
to the floor of the boat to keep the ballast in its 
place ; as otherwise, when the boat has listed in a 
squall, the ballast might fall to leeward, and so 



46 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

cause a capsize. As metal ballast is heavier than 
any other, it can be stowed low, more especially 
if it is moulded to fit into the flooring ; and con- 
sequently the boat ballasted with it will be stiffer 
under canvas, and will sail faster than one ballasted 
with a more bulky material, such as stones or sand. 

The risks of sailing are much reduced for the 
novice if his craft is unsinkable. If a boat will 
float though full of water, her owner, in the event 
of a capsize, can hold on to her side until some one 
comes to his rescue ; and in most cases his craft 
also will be recovered undamaged, whereas a boat 
of higher specific gravity, sinking in deep water, 
will in all probability be lost. Water, therefore, 
though somewhat bulky, is the safest form of ballast 
that can be used, and is strongly recommended to 
the tyro. Iron or zinc water-tanks should be con- 
structed to fit closely into the bottom of the boat 
amidships. A boat thus ballasted is practically no 
heavier when filled with water after a capsize than 
if she had no ballast at all in her ; for the weight 
of the tanks themselves is inconsiderable. By means 
of a small pump, the tanks can be readily filled 
or emptied at will — a great advantage ; for, by 
discharging the water ballast, one can materially 
lighten the boat when one lowers the sail to take 
to the oars, or when one is about to run her on the 
beach and haul her up. If lead or iron ballast be 
employed, the boat should be made unsinkable by 
placing in her water-tight compartments, which 



BALLASTING 47 

thus convert her into a lifeboat. One compartment 
in the bows, and another in the stern-sheets will 
suffice, and, if made to fit closely, they occupy but 
little room. 

Bags of sand are sometimes used for ballasting 
small boats ; but these are clumsy to handle, occupy 
a lot of room, and greatly increase in weight when 
the sand gets wet. 

I have already explained in Chapter II. that the 
leeway of a boat, or her tendency to drift sideways 
when she is sailing with the wind before the beam, 
must be counteracted by giving her a deep keel, or 
by otherwise providing an area of lateral surface 
below the water-line, and thus increasing the lateral 
resistance. 

One of the author's first sailing-craft was an old 
ship's boat, recovered from a vessel that was wrecked 
at the mouth of the Seine, to which he affixed a 
False Keel in order to prevent leeway. The false 
keel (of wood) was bolted on to the original keel, 
and attained its greatest depth, of about six inches, 
a little abaft the middle of the boat, tapering up 
towards the bow and stern. This is an inexpen- 
sive method of converting an old open boat into a 
fairly good sailing-craft. A centre-board, however — 
which I shall shortly describe — is far more effective 
as a preventer of leeway ; for with a given area of 
immersed lateral surface, the keel that is deep but 
not long (like the centre-board) offers the greatest 
lateral resistance to the water. A centre-board boat 



48 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

is also handier and quicker in stays than an open 
boat provided with a false keel. 

The boat provided with a false keel is unsuit- 
able for an open coast where beaching is frequently 
necessary, or for shallow water. If these be the 
conditions of sailing, the boat should have a shallow 
keel and a flat floor. A sharp boat ploughs through 
the sand or shingle on being hauled up, whereas 
the flat-floored boat is drawn up with little labour, 
and is not so likely to strain herself when taking 
the ground in a surf The beach boat should be 
provided with BiLGE PIECES (Fig. 39). These keels, 
running along a great portion of the bilge on either 




Fig. 39.— Bilge Keel, 

side, should be of hard wood, and be so placed that 
they take all the wear and tear when the boat is 
being beached ; without them a boat's planking is 
soon knocked to pieces by beaching. Bilge keels 
increase the lateral resistance, and so to some extent 
lessen leeway ; but unless they be so large as to be 
clumsy and to interfere considerably with the boat's 



THE COBLE 



49 



speed, they are, so far as the author's experience 
goes, generally insufficient by themselves to enable a 
boat to beat to windward in a satisfactory manner ; 
and a centre-board or lee -boards will be found 
necessary. 

THE COBLE 

There is, however, one sort of boat (one hesitates 
to recommend it to the novice, for it is a tricky 
and somewhat difficult craft to handle) which, while 
admirably adapted for beaching, yet sails very well 




^ Fig. 40. — Yorkshire Coble. 

indeed to windward, even through a heavy sea, 
without the aid of centre-board or lee-board. This 
is the coble of Northumberland, possibly the best 
open boat in the world for a harbourless stormy 
coast. The coble is easy to row, safe to beach, 

D 



50 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

and can be launched and put to sea even in very 
rough weather. The coble (Fig. 40) has a con- 
siderable draught of water forward ; her keel, deepest 
at the bows, tapers away to nothing amidships, so 
that abaft that point she has a perfectly flat floor, 
and draws very little water. This deep bow and 
the rudder, which is large and descends far below 
the boat's bottom, provide sufficient lateral resist- 
ance to stop the leeway. It will be noticed that 
the bow is high and flaring, so that the coble rises 
to the seas, and is not readily swamped. 

When a coble is to be beached, the rudder is 
unshipped, the stern is turned to the shore, and 
she is backed in with the oars until her flat stern 
grounds. Both when launching and beaching her 
high bow is thus presented to the surf; it is 
astonishing to see with what safety these boats, 
skilfully handled, can be carried across the line of 
the North Sea breakers when the winter wind blows 
hard on shore. 

THE CENTRE-BOARD 

The most effective method of preventing the lee- 
way of a small boat is to provide her with a centre- 
board. The centre-board, now so familiar to all who 
boat on English waters, is generally constructed of 
iron, but if lightness is an important consideration, 
it might be better to have it of wood, as is often the 
case with the American boats. On the other hand, 
the iron centre-board acts as ballast, and, being so 



CENTRE-BOARDS 51 

deeply immersed, produces a far greater effect in 
stiffening the boat than would a much greater weight 
of iron stowed inside of her. The centre-board is 
generally of triangular shape. When hauled up it is 
contained in a water-tight trunk, or case, in the body 
of the boat ; it works on a pivot at its fore end, and 
when lowered passes through the centre of the keel. 
When the boat strikes on a shoal, the centre-board 
is forced up into the trunk, and warns the steersman 
that it is time to go about or make for deeper water. 
If the centre-board is not jam.med, it rarely bends or 
breaks when the boat runs on shore ; but this does 
occasionally occur. It is better to employ an iron 
handle than a chain for hauling up the centre-board. 
The handle has a joint, so that it can be doubled 
back and be laid snugly along the top of the trunk 
when the centre-board is up. The advantage of the 
handle is that by forcing it down one can release the 
centre-board if the latter be jammed, as not unfre- 
quently happens, by pebbles or bits of wood or weed 
that have found their way into the trunk. 

The centre-board trunk occupies a good deal of 
space in the boat, and is often found to be much in 
the way. To obviate this, a folding centre-board has 
been invented which requires no trunk, and which 
the author has found to answer very well on canoes 
he has used on American waters. This centre-board 
consists of three or more plates of iron, at one end 
working on a pivot in the keel, and made so as to 
open out and close like a fan. The plates are hauled 



52 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

up or lowered by a rod working in a tube which 
passes through the keel into the boat. When 
hoisted, the plates fold up and lie snugly alongside 
each other in a chamber cut into the middle of the 
keel. 

LEE-BOARDS 

The simplest method of supplying a boat with the 
means of offering lateral resistance to the water, and 
so checking leeway, is to fit her with lee-boards. 
Lee-boards are not often to be seen in England save 
on Thames barges ; but on the shallow Dutch waters, 
where small-boat sailing is as well understood as it 
is here, lee- boards are to be found on nearly every 
yacht. Lee-boards have several advantages over 
centre-boards; they do not 'jam, break off, or strain 
the boat when one runs aground, but always come 
up at once on touching the bottom. Some shallow 
waters (the Danish fiords, for example, among which 
the author once cruised in a lee-board boat) are 
in summer overgrown with weeds, through which a 
centre-board craft could never force her way: the 
long water growth would wind round the plate and 
choke the trunk ; on the other hand, a lee-board can 
always be pulled up without difficulty when it gets 
foul, and be quickly cleared of the weeds. 

If expense is a consideration, the novice cannot do 
better than fit his first little boat with lee-boards. 
We will suppose that he has purchased a second- 
hand craft for a few pounds. To fit a centre-board 



LEE-BOARDS 



53 



into her would be a costly bit of work, only to be 
undertaken by a skilled boat-builder. But any boy 
who has even a very small experience of the use of 
carpenter's tools can construct a lee-board and fit it 
to his boat. The author once placed lee-boards on 
an old P. and O. lifeboat, and sailed with her from 
Hammersmith to Copenhagen and back, cruising 
round the Zuider Zee, coasting up the Frisian islands, 
winding in and out among the many pleasant fiords, 




Fig. 41.— Ketch Rig with Lee-boards. 

straits, and islands of the Baltic. With her varnished 
teak sides and oaken lee-boards she looked very well, 
and her sailing powers were as excellent as her 
appearance. She was double-ended — that is, her 
stern was pointed like her bow ; she was ketch-rigged ; 
and, drawing little over two feet with her lee-boards 
up, she could put into all sorts of interesting little 
creeks and rivers closed to bigger craft. Fig. 41 will 
give some idea of her appearance and of the shape 



54 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

of her lee-boards. Lee-boards for large boats are 
made in sections held together by stout iron bands, 
and are hauled up by chains and tackle ; but for a 
small boat, a lee-board made out of a single plank 
will do very well, and no iron-work is needed. 

Almost anything that can float can be made to sail 
to windward by lowering a plank vertically over the 
side ; for that is practically all a lee-board amounts 
to — a fact to be borne in mind when one wishes to 
extemporise a sailing-craft in some out-of-the-way 
corner of the world where means and appliances are 
few. Thus some years ago the author, being in 
Florida, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, took it 
into his head to undertake a cruise down the shallow 
channels that divide the mainland from the long line 
of palmetto-covered keys or islands that fringe that 
beautiful coast. He found nothing in the way of a 
craft available for his purpose, save what the natives 
were pleased to call a canoe ; she was a little punt, a 
shallow, clumsily built trough, in shape resembling 
rather one of the trays in which photographers de- 
velop their plates than a boat He made a sail for 
her, and then out of a pine plank cut a lee-board 
about three feet long, shaped as in Fig. 42, stout at 
the head and down the centre, but tapering away 
to a narrow edge at the foot and sides. Having 
determined by experiment at what part of the boat's 
side the lee-board was most effective, he fitted an iron 
pin (see the Fig.) on either gunwale. A rope was 
then rove through the head of the lee- board, and 



LEE-BOARDS 



55 



knotted so as to prevent it from slipping through. 
The other end of the rope was made fast to a cleat 
at the bottom of 



the boat amid- 
ships. The lee- 
board could thus 
be easily thrown 
over from one 
side to the other, 
according to the 
tack on which 
the boat was 
sailing; the rope, 
being always 
passed over the 
fore side of 




Fig. 42.— Lee-board. 



either iron pin, kept the lee-board in its place, and 
prevented it from sliding aft. Another rope, rove 
through a hole at the lower end of the lee-board, 
led aft, and served to raise it. The above is the 
simplest method of fitting lee-boards, and the result 
will be found to be perfectly satisfactory. In the 
punt he has described, the author, provided with rod 
and gun, for game and fish were plentiful, undertook 
a long cruise among the bayous and channels of the 
Gulf Coast, camping out each night in pine forests 
on the mainland or on the sands of desert key, much 
astonishing the few natives he met ; for a lee-board 
was an unknown mystery to them, and they marvelled 
to see one of their rough country punts turn to 



$6 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

windward so well when provided with this strange 
invention. The punt drew but three inches of water 
when her lee-board was up, and skimmed over the 
water at a wonderful rate. It must be confessed 
that she was not a good sea-boat : she had very little 
freeboard, and was easily swamped. In fact, when- 
ever the wind rose and the water became choppy she 
was in imminent danger of filling. And yet her skipper 
felt no anxiety, for the peril was not so great as one 
would gather from the above statement. The water 
through which he sailed was generally considerably 
under two feet in depth, often so shallow that 
foundering was a physical impossibility. When it 
got very rough he adopted a bold course. He used 
to lighten his vessel by stepping out of her into the 
tossing waters, and, walking ahead of her with tow- 
line over his shoulder, would tow her against wind 
and sea until calmer weather permitted him to re- 
embark and hoist his canvas. The working of lee- 
boards is very simple. When running before the 
wind they are raised ; when turning to windward the 
weather one is raised and the lee one is lowered. 

If a boat's sides are not straight up and down, 
but flare out, as is usually the case, a chock of wood 
must be nailed on either side a little above the 
water-line to support the lee-boards and keep them 
perpendicular. 

The Florida canoe above mentioned was practi- 
cally what we should call in England a sailing-punt. 
Such a boat is only suited for sailing in smooth 



A DISAGREEABLE EXPERIENCE 57 

water, and though not exactly beautiful to look 
upon, she will sail fairly well, and is incontestably 
the cheapest of all boats to build. Indeed, so simple 
is the construction, that, if proper instructions . are 
given to him, any village carpenter can turn out a 
craft of this description ; and an amateur of small 
means, possessing some knowledge of the use of 
tools, can build one for himself out of a few deal 
planks, and some hard wood for stem, keel, and 
knees. If the boat has a centre-board (which is 
far more difficult to construct than lee-boards) this 
should be of wood, not of iron ; and, having plenty 
of beam, she should need no ballast. With such a 
boat, which with sail, oars, etc., should not cost more 
than four pounds, the novice can with advantage 
pass his first apprenticesliip at sailing. 

Of course, with such a craft one should not venture 
into rough water. I was compelled to do so once, 
and passed through strange experiences, in the 
course of which I made some discoveries as to the 
seaworthy qualities (in a novel sense of the term, 
as I shall have to explain) of this sort of boat It 
was during the Spanish-American War, and in my 
capacity of war correspondent of the Times, attached 
to the Spanish side, I was ordered to go to Havana, 
which was then being blockaded by the United 
States squadron. Having made several attempts 
to get through the blockade, either by running it 
or legitimately, and having failed to accomplish my 
purpose in consequence of the difficulties put in my 

D * 



58 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

way by the American authorities, I had at last to 
adopt the one plan left open to me. I bought in 
Key West the only small boat I could find, a flat- 
bottomed punt such as I have described, fourteen 
feet in length. She had somewhat more freeboard 
than most of her class, but still she was the last sort 
of boat I should have selected for use in rough 
water. One night I gave the slip to those who were 
spying my movements, smuggled my boat on to the 
deck of a little steamer that was starting for the 
South, and the next morning I was off the Cuban 
coast. When we were yet six miles off the land my 
boat was lowered into the water ; the skipper would 
approach no nearer, fearing to draw the fire of the 
Spanish batteries. My intention was to pull towards 
the shore, which was there uninhabited and exposed 
to a heavy surf, land when I found a convenient 
place, and then walk in the direction of Havana, and 
hand myself over to the officer of the first party 
of Spanish troops I should meet with, avoiding, if 
possible, on my way any encounter with Cuban 
insurgents or Spanish guerillas, for the Spanish 
irregulars were known to have an unpleasant habit 
of shooting first and challenging afterwards. As 
bad luck would have it, it had been blowing hard 
for two days, and a nasty sea v/as running. I knew 
it was a perilous adventure, and had it not been 
that there was no other way of carrying out my 
mission I should not have thought of making the 
attempt. But I had no choice, so I leapt into the 



ALONE IN THE WATER 59 

boat from the pitching and rolling steamer, and 
pulled off alone towards the distant shore. 

The steamer stood by for a while to see that all 
went well with me. The sea was running parallel 
to the shore, the fresh trade-wind being here nearly 
always opposed to the strong current of the Gulf 
Stream. For some time I got on well ; but I found 
that I had to exert the greatest care and vigilance, 
keeping the boat dead before each high sea, and 
edging shorewards in the * smooths.' When I was 
about a mile from the steamer, which was still lying 
to, I entered a succession of steep and dangerous 
seas. A few had rolled safely by me, when there 
came one which broke just as I was about to top it ; 
a volume of water rushed over the stern of the boat, 
filling it and then capsizing it. Clinging to the keel 
with one hand, I held up an oar with the other as a 
signal to the steamer, which was still lying to. She 
immediately began to steam ahead, and I took it 
for granted that she was making for me ; but soon, 
to my dismay, I realised that she had turned, and 
was proceeding on her voyage, directly away from 
me. My signal had been mistaken for an intimation 
that all was right with me. Thus left alone, with 
but small chance of receiving any assistance, for 
there were no boats on that portion of the coast, my 
first idea was to make an attempt to swim for the 
shore, but I saw that the distance was too great, and 
that it was extremely unlikely I should reach the 
land, even if I escaped the sharks that swarm in 



6o THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

these waters ; indeed, I saw several while I was 
clinging on to the boat. I therefore decided to 
remain with the boat, and taking advantage of a 
smooth, I succeeded in righting her, but I found 
that it would be impossible to bale her out, how- 
ever smooth the sea ; for, empty though she was, 
only her bow and stern rose above the water, her 
sides being immersed. After trying some experi- 
ments with her, I soon discovered that, though the 
boat was unfit to carry one through a rough sea, she 
was, in consequence of her breadth and her flat floor, 
a much better boat to cling on to when swamped 
and capsized than a far better sea-boat would have 
been in the same position. This is what I meant 
when I spoke of her seaworthy qualities. She was 
frequently rolled over by the waves, now floating 
keel upwards and now righting herself; but it was 
always possible for me to lie upon one side or the 
other without fatiguing myself to any great extent, 
though I was, of course, up to my shoulders in 
water, and the waves were constantly passing over 
my head. Then, holding on to the stern, I swam 
behind the boat, endeavouring thus to direct her 
shorewards, but with no appreciable result; and 
soon, seeing the fin of a shark not far off, I promptly 
resumed my former position on the boat, where my 
body was not so exposed to view. I thus drifted 
until the evening, when the wind freshened and the 
sea rose, so that the boat's capsizings became more 
frequent, and the waves dashed over my head more 



A WATER-LOGGED BOAT 6i 

often than before. I had little hope now, and 
thought it almost certain that, tired out, I should 
be washed off the boat before the morning. But I 
contrived to hold on all night, and found myself at 
dawn not much exhausted. I was now apparently 
about three miles from the coast, which was evi- 
dently unpopulated. The sea was so much smoother 
that I found it possible to sit in the bottom of the 
water-logged boat, and, by paddling first on one 
side and then on the other with the one oar that 
remained to me (I had lashed it to the thwarts 
immediately after my capsize), I endeavoured to 
direct her towards the shore. But it was hopeless 
work ; after I had been thus toiling for hours, the 
palm-clad hills and yellow sands appeared as far 
away as ever. While doing this I contrived to 
balance the boat pretty well ; it was only occasion- 
ally that she capsized, threw me out, and had to be 
once more righted. To get into her again when 
this occurred was no easy matter ; for the sea was 
still choppy, and the boat was apt to roll over with 
me again before I could get my balance properly. 
But I was now pretty well accustomed to her ways, 
and was able to do with her what I certainly could 
not have done with the ordinary, deeper, and better 
sea-boat When swamped she certainly displayed 
a remarkable seaworthiness ; that may be the wrong 
term to apply to this quality of hers, but whatever 
it was it saved my life. Had she been provided 
with water-tight compartments in her bow and stern, 



62 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

I could have baled her out and got into her so soon 
as the sea had sufficrently gone down. 

At last, with a violent squall, the wind shifted to 
N.N.E., thus blowing towards the land, instead of 
parallel to it as before. Here I saw my chance ; 
my hope revived, and I determined to employ all 
my remaining strength in a struggle to reach the 
shore. I sat in the stern, and, paddling hard with 
the oar, I kept the boat before the wind, which, 
striking her uplifted bows, gave her some way 
through the water, and I soon discovered that she 
was making distinct progress. I paddled steadily 
on for, I should say, three hours, the boat capsizing 
and having to be righted every quarter of an hour 
or so. To cut short this long yarn — which, how- 
ever, may prove instructive, and provide the reader 
with some useful wrinkles if he ever gets into a 
similar predicament — I neared the shore, and saw 
before me a steep rocky beach on which the surf 
was breaking furiously — a most dangerous place 
at which to attempt a landing. But the landing 
had to be made, so I pushed on. When about forty 
yards from the shore I got into a succession of 
steep rollers, and the boat gave her final capsize. 
Springing clear of her, I swam for the shore. Three 
times I came in on the crest ®f a wave, was battered 
and bruised by the rocks, and then carried out to 
sea again. But the fourth time I succeeded in 
clinging tightly to a rock, and, before the next 
wave was on me, scrambled on to dry land, having 



POINTED STERNS 63 

passed twenty-four hours in the Gulf Stream, rolling 
over and over with my swampe^* boat. My capture 
by Spanish troops, my imprisonment, and my sub- 
sequent adventures before I reached the city of 
Havana — which was not until seven days later — 
have nothing to do with yachting or boating, so 
I will not recount them here. 



POINTED STERNS 

I have already described my P. and O. lifeboat 
with which I sailed to the Baltic as having a 
pointed stern. The double-ended boat is far better 
adapted for use on rough seas than a boat having 
a square stern. Hence lifeboats and the small 
fishing-craft of the Baltic and other stormy seas 
are thus constructed. A good double-ended boat 
with plenty of sheer — that is, with her bulwarks 
forming a bold curve from bow to stern — is strongly 
to be recommended to the tyro. He will find that 
such a boat will steer far more easily than the 
usual square-sterned boat when running before a 
heavy sea. She is then far safer than a boat of 
any other form. Presenting a sharp wedge to the 
following rollers, they glide by her and she rises 
like a duck to each sea. A boat with a square 
stern, or, worse still, with a counter — an abomination 
on a small craft — behaves in a very different manner. 
The following seas, striking her bluff opposing stern 
with force, are apt to drive her bows under water, 



64 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

or cause her to broach to — that is, force her round 
with their impact till she is broadside on to the sea, 
and is in serious danger of being swamped or rolled 
over by a wave before she can be paid off before the 
wind again. The sharp-sterned boat is also obvi- 
ously far the safest to beach through a heavy surf. 

THE RIG 

After the novice has selected his open boat, it 
remains for him to decide how he shall rig her. 
The following are the more usual methods of 
riggiog small open sailing-boats of the class dealt 
with in this chapter. The rigs I am about to 
describe require no booms, and are therefore the 
safest for the novice. A sail that has no boom — a 
lug, for example — when the sheet is let go in a 
squall, blows away before the wind like a flag, and 
cannot capsize the boat. This is not the case with 
a sail stretched out on a boom, which always offers 
some resistance to the wind, even when the sheet 
is let go. With the boomsail a jibe in a strong 
wind is a risky proceeding. On the other hand, a 
boat cannot sail her best without a boom ; when 
running before the wind the sail forms a bag, and 
does not hold so much wind as it would if its foot 
were extended on a boom. It is only when the 
boat is on a wind that the boomless sail can be 
got to stand flat, and then only if the sheet is 
led well aft and made fast to a place exactly in 
the line of the foot of the sail. 



DIPPING-LUG 



65 



The Dipping-Lug (Fig. 43) is much used by 
fishermen on their open boats; it is a very safe 
sail when handled by skilled men, but it has some 
serious disadvantages, and is not to be recom- 
mended to the novice. The sail has no boom, and 
the tack is made fast in the bows; consequently 




Fig. 43.— Mount's Bay Boat. 
(Dipping Lug Mainsail— Standing Lug Mizzen.) 

every time the boat goes about or jibes, the sail 
has to be lowered, passed over to the other side 
of the mast, and hoisted again. A lug-sailed boat, 
therefore, cannot well be sailed single-handed, and 
even when fully manned is a very inconvenient 
craft for tacking in narrow waters. Moreover, if, 
through some clumsiness on the part of the steers- 

E 



66 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 



man, or by the action of the waves, the boat luffs 
up into the wind's eye, the fore part of the sail 
between tack and mast is taken aback, and a 
capsize is then very likely to occur. It is there- 
fore important, if the novice employs this rig, that 
his tack should be so arranged as to be let go in 
a second. The author's plan on a lug-rigged boat 
he once owned was to lead a rope with an iron 
thimble spliced at the end of it through an eye- 
bolt in the bows. The tack of the sail was hooked 
into the thimble, and the rope was made fast to 
a cleat in the stern sheets, so that it could be cast 
off in a moment and so send the tack flying out. 




Fig. 44.— Standing Lug. 

But the Standing-Lug (Fig. 44) is a very con- 
venient sail for the amateur boat-sailor. The tack 
is made fast to the mast, or to the thwart through 
which the mast passes, and the sail does not require 



SPRITSAIL RIG 67 

to be dipped when the boat jibes or goes about. 
The yard is hooked to a traveller — an iron ring 
working on the mast, to which the end of the 
halyard is fastened. A lugsail, in order to stand 
well, should have a high peak. The smartest lug- 
sailed open pleasure-boats are to be found on the 
Clyde, and among them are some very fast racers. 
In these boats the main-sheet works on an iron 
horse, and the halyard is provided with a luff-tackle 
purchase, so that the sail can be swigged up taut. 

A boat rigged with a standing-lug mainsail and 
mizzen, and a jib, as in Fig. 44, is very handy and 
safe. If it blows hard the mainsail can be lowered, 
and the boat can be sailed under mizzen and jib. 
The mizzen sheet leads through a sheave-hole at 
the end of the bumpkin — as a spar projecting over 
the stern is called. 

Another favourite rig for small boats is the 
Spritsail rig (Fig. 45). A spritsail, if well cut 
and carefully set, stands flatter than a lugsail ; 
for the long spar, or sprite extending diagonally 
across the sail, prevents it from bagging out. As 
a rule, the luff of the sail is laced to the mast, 
but in the larger boats mast-hoops are employed. 
The tack is fastened to the mast. An iron 
thimble at the throat of the sail is hooked on 
to an iron traveller working on the mast and 
attached to the end of the halyard. The sprit 
is a spar tapering towards each end ; one end fits 
into an eye at the peak of the sail, and the other 



6S THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

end into what is called the snotter. The snotter 
is a short piece of rope with an eye spliced into 
it at each end ; it is passed round the mast, one 
eye is rove through the other, and the loop thus 
formed when tightened grips the mast firmly. The 
end of the sprit fits into the first-mentioned eye. 




Fig. 45.— Spritsaiu 

To set a spritsail, first hoist it; pjace the upper 
end of the sprit into the eye at the peak of 
the sail, and then place the lower end into the 
eye of the snotter. Lastly, push the snotter up 
the mast until the sail, standing taut and flat, 
prevents it going up any further. Wet the snotter 
if it has a tendency to slip down the mast. In 
bigger boats the snotter is hoisted and kept in 
its place by a tackle fitted to the mast, and so 



SPRITSAIL BARGE 



69 



cannot slip. It is of the utmost importance that 
the snotter should be strong, and it should be 
replaced so soon as it shows any signs of wearing 
out; for should the snotter, on which there is 
always a great strain, happen to break when the 
boat is under way in a breeze, the sprit may be 




Spritsail Barge with Sail brailed, 

driven through the bottom of the boat. The thing 
that the skipper of a Thames barge dreads most 
in bad weather is that his heavy sprit should get 
adrift and ' take command.' 

This is one of the safest of sails. The sprit 
can be quickly unshipped in a squall, and then 
the sail blows out a mere flag, offering little 



70 THE SMALL OPEN SAILING-BOAT 

resistance to the wind ; or again, the sail can be 
brailed up in a moment to the mast with the 
brailing-lines — you will see them on every Thames 
spritsail barge — these lead through blocks on the 
mast or on the mast-hoops, pass through eyelets 
in the leach of the sail, and so go right round 
the sail. On hauling on these lines the sail is 
snugly furled up along the mast — the most rapid 
imaginable way of relieving a craft of her canvas 
until a squall has passed by. 




Fig. 46.— Leg-o'-Mutton Sail. ^jiWS ' 

The Jib-Headed or Leg-of-Mutton sail, like 
that represented in Fig. 46, is in some respects the 



LEG-O'-MUTTON SAIL 



71 



safest of all rigs for a small open boat, and it 
is very easy to handle. It will be observed that 
the weight of canvas is mostly in the body of the 
boat, and that there is very little weight aloft. 
The sail is laced to the mast, which need be but 
a light spar, as it has no heavy gaff or yard to 
support, and small strain comes upon any part 
of it. One halyard hoists the sail. The sail can 
be easily rolled up and tied along the mast, or 
brailing-lines can be employed as in the spritsail- 
rigged boat. 




Leg-o'-Mutton as Storm Sail. 



CHAPTER V 

OPEN SAILING-BOATS WITH BOOM-SAILS, AND 
HALF-DECKED BOATS 

The Una rig — Balance-reefs — The sliding-gunter — The balance-lug — 
Main and mizzen rig — The sloop — Half-decked boats. 

The open-boat rigs described in the last chapter 
require no booms, and are therefore the safest for the 
novice's first ventures on the water. A boom much 
increases the danger of sailing an open boat ; even 
when the sheet is let go a sail bent on a boom holds 
a great deal of wind, and an accidental jibe in a 
strong breeze is likely to cause a capsize. 

But so soon as the amateur sailor has acquired 
some experience of seamanship, he will not be 
content to use sails without booms on his boat. 
For, as was explained in the last chapter, a sail 
is rendered far more effective when its foot is 
extended on a boom. When the boat is running, 
a sail that has no boom forms into a bag, and does 
not present its full area to the wind ; it cannot be 
made to stand quite flat even on a wind, and 
though it jibes with safety, it is more liable to 
accidental jibes than a sail provided with a boom. 



UNA BOAT 73 

Some of the sails described in the last chapter — 
such as the standing-lug and the leg-of-mutton 
sail — can be used with or without booms ; but 
with most of the rigs described in this chapter — 
e^g, the balance-lug and the Una — the boom is 
indispensable. 




Fig. 47.— Una Boat. 



The Una Rig, which was introduced to this 
country from the United States nearly half a century 
ago, though a somewhat dangerous rig for a novice, 
has many great advantages. A Una, or cat-rigged 
boat, as it is termed in America, is certainly the 

E * 



74 OPEN SAILING-BOATS 

handiest and quickest of boats for turning to wind- 
ward in narrow waters. The Una boats built on 
the English coasts — at Cowes or Southampton, for 
example — are of deeper draught than the orthodox 
cat-boats of America, and are more comfortable 
in a choppy sea. 

A cat-boat has an almost flat floor. It has 
very great beam in proportion to its length, the 
former being in some boats more than half the 
latter; its deck-plan bears some resemblance to 
a flat-iron. It therefore has a very light draught. 
A large cat-boat, in which the author sailed 
for some months on the coast of Florida, only 
drew three inches with her centre-board up. The 
American cat-boat is generally provided with a 
wooden centre-board ; in England an iron centre- 
board is preferred. The mast is stepped right in 
the bows, and the one sail, which has a gaff and 
boom, is shaped as in Fig. 47. The sail is held to 
the mast either by lacing or by mast-hoops. The 
sail is hoisted by a single halyard, which, as will be 
seen on referring to the figure, is made fast to the 
gaff, leads through a double block on the mast, then 
through a single block at the jaws of the gaff, then 
through the double block again, and lastly down the 
mast to the cleat on deck, to which the fall is 
fastened. The effect of hauling on the halyard 
is first to hoist the throat of the sail well up, and 
then to set up the peak. The boom should always 
be provided with a topping lift, for unless the boom 



UNA RIG 75 

is topped up it will fall into the water when the sail 
is lowered, and will dip into it when the boat is run- 
ning before the wind. Mere skimming-dish though 
the cat-boat is, her excessive beam gives her great 
stability, and she can be sailed without any ballast ; 
but, as has already been explained, boats of this 
class, though stiff up to a particular point, capsize as 
soon as they have heeled over to a certain angle, 
and must be sailed with greater care in squally 
weather than the deep-keeled boats. 

The Una, so well adapted for shallow waters, so 
quick in stays and admirably handy when tacking 
in narrow channels, would be the ideal boat for 
single-handed sailing were it not for some serious 
disadvantages. Being so flat-floored she is uncom- 
fortable in rough water, pounding heavily into the 
seas and straining herself Moreover, the weight of 
her mast, situated, as it is, so far forward, tends to 
drive her bow into the seas and make her a wet 
boat on a wind ; while she is liable to plunge her 
nose under and go down by the head when running 
before a strong squall. The great sail and the 
length of the boom also make the boat roll when 
running before the wind ; she is then apt to steer 
very wildly, and is more liable to broach to than a 
boat of any other rig. It needs a skilled helmsman 
to steer a cat-boat safely when scudding before a 
squall in rough water, and a jibe at that juncture 
would, in all probability, capsize her. 

It will be observed that most of the above objec- 



76 OPEN SAILING-BOATS 

tions to this rig apply only to its use on rough 
water. But, unsuitable though the rig may be for 
open-sea work, it is difficult to beat it on rivers, 
small lakes, and broads, where there is no room for 
a sea to rise. As for the other disadvantages of the 
rig, these can to a great extent be obviated by the 
following plan adopted by the author on the large 
cat-boat which he used to sail single-handed in 
Florida. The waters on which he was cruising 
were subject to violent squalls and to strong 
northerly winds, so it was necessary that he should 
be able to reduce his canvas quickly at times. In 
the first place, instead of the usual single halyards 
to which I have referred, he employed two halyards, 
as in a cutter, throat-halyard and peak-halyard, the 
former belaying at the foot of the mast, the latter 
passing through a block at the foot of the mast, and 
thence leading to a cleat aft within easy reach of 
the helmsman. He could thus, when a squall struck 
the boat, let go the peak halyards in a moment 
without leaving the helm, and so relieve the boat 
of the pressure of half the sail and the leverage of 
the great gaff. He might have made her still 
snugger by having a tricing-tackle fitted to the tack. 
Then, by hauling the tack up and lowering the 
peak, the sail would be ' scandalised.' The signifi- 
cation of this last term and a description of a tack 
tricing-tackle will be found in Chapters VI. and VII. 
The author also had a balance-reef in the sail (see 
the Fig.) — that is, a diagonal reef-band with reef- 



SLIDING-GUNTER RIG 



77 



points, extending from the throat of the sail to the 
clew. 

In order to take in the balance-reef, the jaws of 
the gaff were lowered to the boom and there made 
fast. The reef-points were tied round the boom. 
When the reef was down, the peak was hoisted till 
the gaff lay along the mast. This left a snug 
triangular sail, under which the boat would turn to 
windward in a gale of wind, and, relieved of her 
top hamper, would run with safety, steering easily, 
before the heaviest squall. 




Fig. 48.— Sliding Gunter. 

The Sliding-Gunter (Fig. 48) is the favourite 
rig of the Bermudas. A boat thus rigged has a 
very short mast The sail is of triangular shape, 
and the upper portion of its luff is laced to a long 
yard. This yard (see Fig. 49) slides up and down 



78 



OPEN SAILING-BOATS 



the mast on two irons. These irons are fixed to the 
yard, and are made to work easily on the mast. 
The halyards lead through a sheave-hole 
at the top of the mast, and the end is 
fastened to the yard at the upper iron, or, 
better still, passes through an eye on the 
upper iron, and is made fast at the heel 
of the yard. The lower portion of the 
luff of the sail is held to the mast by a 
lacing. 

In reefing, the yard is lowered to the 
required distance ; and when the sail is 
close reefed the end of the yard is brought 
down to the end of the boom. 

This rig, it will be seen, is particularly 
safe and snug. There is no top hamper 
and heavy gaff swinging about aloft, and 
the weight of the sail is in the body of the 
boat. To let the yard drop and close-reef 
the sail is a far simpler and quicker pro- 
cess than the reefing of a sail provided with a gaff. 

It is well to have a hinge in the lower iron, and 
to so fit the upper iron that it can be readily 
undamped. If the lacing of the lower part of the 
sail be then cast off, the yard can be lowered on 
deck, an advantage when at anchor or when it 
becomes necessary to row the boat against a strong 
wind. 

The sliding-gunter boat generally carries a jib 
and foresail or one large jib, and sometimes two 



f IG. 49. 



BALANCE-LUG 79 

masts as in the illustration. Like all other rigs, 
it has some disadvantages, and of these the most 
serious is the liability of the sliding-irons to jam 
when the yard is being hoisted or lowered. The 
irons should therefore be covered with leather, 
which should always be kept well greased ; and a 
downhaul should be fitted to the end of the yard. 
It is also a good plan to have the hoops connected 
by a line on the foreside. This will keep the lower 
hinged iron in a horizontal position, and much 
diminish the chances of jamming. 

Perhaps the best rig of all for river sailing is the 
popular Balance-Lug, so familiar to all those who 
know the upper Thames. But for rough water it 
is not a suitable rig. The extreme rigidity of the 
sail makes it strain the 'mast a good deal when 
the boat is in a seaway. There should be plenty 
of give and take in the gear of a boat that is to 
toss about on the salt water. 

Some boats are rigged with two balance-lugs ; 
others have jibs and mizzens ; but for single-handed 
sailing the most comfortable is the centre-board 
dinghy with a single balance-lug. Such a boat can 
be rowed easily, and is yet big enough to carry 
several passengers. The author is the owner of a 
boat of this class on the Thames ; and a description 
of her will serve to give an idea of the up-river 
balance-lug. 

This boat (see Fig. 50) is built of mahogany ; her 
length is fifteen feet, and her beam five feet. She 



8o OPEN SAILING-BOATS 

has an iron centre-board, and her ballast consists 
of four iron half-hundredweights, two on either side 
of the centre-board trunk. The lug is laced to a 
boom and yard, and though a large portion of the 
sail is before the mast, the sail has not to be dipped 




Fig. 50. 

when the boat goes about, as is the case with the 
dipping-lug. It will be observed that the yard has a 
high peak, and that it is slung at about one-third of 
its length from its lower end. In many boats of this 
class the halyard is fastened to an iron mast-traveller, 
to which the yard is hooked ; but one serious objec- 



BALANCE-LUG HALYARDS 



8i 



tion to this plan is that the sail cannot be fully 
lowered into the boat until the yard is unhooked 
from the traveller, or unless the tack and sheet are 
let go. This is apt to put one in difficulties when 
one has to lower one's sail hurriedly in a squall ; so 
other methods have been devised for keeping the 
yard close to the mast, while hoisting the sail by 
a halyard merely hooked to a thimble on the yard. 

One of the best-known of these v 
methods is that adopted by the 
author on his boat. A line (see 
Fig. 51) is made fast to the yard 
some inches above the point at 
which the yard is slung ; it then 
passes round the mast, and leads 
through an eye on the ya'rd, a foot 
below the slings. When the sail is 
set, this line is hauled taut and be- 
layed, thus keeping the yard close 
to the mast ; when the sail lowers, 
the line slackens and gives the yard 
free play, so that it can be lowered 
into the boat. To facilitate the hoisting of the sail 
the halyard is fitted with a purchase. This will be 
understood by referring to Fig. 50. It will be seen 
that at the end of the halyard a block is spliced. 
A rope is made fast on the mast thwart, and then 
leading through the block comes down again to form 
the hauling part. This is a single-whip purchase, 
and reduces the force to be employed by one-half, 

F 




82 OPEN SAILING-BOATS 

To set a balance-lug sail, the yard is first hoisted 
to the requisite height with the halyard, and then 
the tack is hauled down until the sail stands per- 
fectly taut and flat. As considerable force has to 
be exerted in order to get the tack down, it is usual 
to have a tack purchase ; when the ropes and sail 
stretch in a breeze, it is by a pull on the tack pur- 
chase, and not on the halyards, that the slack is 
taken in and the sail is made to stand flat again. 
In the author's boat a luff tackle is employed for 
the tack ; the upper block hooking on to a thimble 
fastened to the boom, while the lower block hooks 
on to an eye in the mast. A downhaul is fitted to 
the yard. 

The sheet is thus arranged : One end of it is 
fastened to one quarter of the boat ; the other end 
leads through a block on the boom and then through 
another block fastened to the other quarter. 

The mast is supported by a wire stay on either 
side, and being stepped in what is known as a 
tabernacle^ works on a pivot in its heel, so that it 
can be quickly lowered when a bridge has to be 
passed under. A rope is spliced into an eye at the 
lower end of the forestay, passes through a block in 
the bows, and leads to a cleat aft ; when this rope is 
cast off, the mast comes down without difficulty. 

If a balance-lug is properly cut and properly set, 
it stands flatter than any of the sails hitherto 
described. The position of the tack, made fast as 
it is at some distance abaft the fore end of the 



MAIN AND MIZZEN RIG 83 

boom, makes it impossible for the end of the boom 
to lift in a breeze and for the sail to belly out, as 
is the case with the standing-lug and other sails. 
The boom cannot lift without the yard lifting also, 
and the sail is always perfectly rigid. 

It must be allowed that the balance-lug is not an 
easy sail to handle in squally weather. One cannot 
reef it without lowering it into the boat ; one cannot 
trice up the tack and lower the peak till the pufF is 
over, as one can with the cat-boat ; one cannot brail 
it up as one can the spritsail. But with all these 
disadvantages it is, when skilfully handled, the best 
rig for the river. 

The Main and MizzEN is a favourite rig for 
balance-lug canoes and small boats, and it is no 
doubt a very handy one. Sometimes the mizzen- 
bumpkin is fastened on to the rudder head and so 
moves with it. The result is that in tacking, when 
the helm is put down, the mizzen is forced to wind- 
ward and helps the boat round. This plan, which 
is adopted on the Thames sailing-barges, will 
certainly prevent a clumsy boat from missing stays ; 
but the mizzen becomes a back sail every time the 
boat goes about, and must stop her way to some 
extent. Moreover, with the mizzen so arranged the 
helmsman dares not leave his tiller for a moment, 
for if he does so the wind pressing on the mizzen 
forces the rudder down, and the boat falls off before 
the wind (at the risk of capsizing if the breeze 
is strong), instead of luffing up into it, as all 



84 OPEN SAILING-BOATS 

open sailing-boats should do when left to them- 
selves. 

The main and mizzen rigged boat in Fig. 52 has 
wooden battens in her two lugs after the Chinese 
fashion. With the assistance of battens a sail 
attains the maximum of flatness. The battens do 
not materially increase the weight of the sail, as 
they are made of light deal. They are passed 




Fig. 52.— Main and Mizzen, 

through the reef bands of the sail. The dotted 
lines in the diagram indicate their position. This 
rig is peculiarly adapted for single-handed sailing ; 
for a very large sail can be carried with safety if it 
be provided with battens, as reefing becomes an 
exceedingly simple and almost instantaneous pro- 
cess. To take in a reef, the halyard is slacked off a 
sufficient length ; and then a pull on a line, which is 
rove through thimbles fastened at both ends of the 



SLOOP RIG 



85 



batten and boom, draw boom and lower batten 
close together, and the reef is down, for the reef 
points need not be tied. The other reefs can be 
taken down in the same way. In squally weather 
reefs can be taken in and shaken out half a dozen 
times in a minute if necessary. Of course, if one has 
time to do so one will tie the reef-points, as the reef 
will then be snugger. 




ftifs 



Fig. S3.— Sloop. 

The Sloop rig (Fig. 53) is well adapted for sea- 
work, but is not a handy rig for single-handed 
sailing if the sailor be a novice ; for the tending of 
the jib-sheets when tacking gives the helmsman 
more work than he may care for on a windy day. 
The sloop is rigged much like the cutter ; its main- 
sail, like the cutter's, has a boom and gaff and is 
hoisted by two halyards, the throat and peak 



S6 OPEN SAILING-BOATS 

halyards ; but whereas the cutter has a forestay 
fixed to the stem, carries two head-sails, a jib and 
foresail, and has a bowsprit that can be reefed and 
drawn inboard, the sloop has a fixed bowsprit or 
bumpkin, to the end of which the forestay is carried, 
and for head-sail has but one large jib. A topsail 
can be carried on a sloop as on a cutter, and a 
spinnaker can be used for running before the wind. 
As the running and standing rigging of a sloop is 
practically the same as that of a cutter, it is un- 
necessary to describe it in this chapter. 

If the mainsail of a small boat — whether she be 
cat-boat, balance-lug, or sloop — have a boom, it is 
usual to have the foot of the sail laced to the boom 
instead of having it secured at the two extremities 
only, as is often the case with the cutter's mainsail. 
A sail thus laced undoubtedly stands flatter, and 
as the lacing distributes the strain along the boom, 
that spar need not be so stout and heavy as it would 
have to be with a sail that was not laced. 

I have already pointed out that the different sorts 
of open sailing-boats I have described are often pro- 
vided with jibs and mizzens. For river and smooth 
water sailing the single-handed sailor had best con- 
fine himself to one sail ; it is difficult to see what 
advantage he can gain by having more. Even if 
he decide to carry a mizzen as well as a mainsail in 
his boat, he should at any rate abjure the jib, 
always a troublesome sail to work in narrow waters. 
The boat with the single sail is not only the handiest, 



ADVANTAGES OF A JIB 87 

but it is the fastest ; that is, given a certain area of 
canvas, that canvas is far more effective if it be all 
put into one sail than if it be divided into several 
sails; and this is more especially the case when a 
boat is on a wind. It is only because huge sails 
are difficult to handle that seagoing vessels have 
so many sails — an objection that does not apply to 
small boats. 

But when a boat is intended for cruising on 
choppy waters it is inadvisable to fit her with one 
big sail, which also involves a lofty mast. When 
tumbling about in a seaway in a strong breeze the 
less top hamper the better, so that a smaller main- 
sail and a jib constitute the best rig. When running 
or sailing with the wind abeam, a boat is more easy 
to steer if she has a jio; a boat with one sail is 
apt to miss stays if the sea is rough, but with the 
assistance of a jib her head can always be paid off. 

On some small craft, which, like the sloop, carry 
one head-sail only, the foot of the jib is laced to the 
boom, which makes the sail stand much flatter, more 
especially when the boat is sailing free and the sheet 
is slacked off. 

There is also a convenient plan by which the 
head-sail can be used as jib or spinnaker at will. 
The after end of the bowsprit is fitted to an iron 
gooseneck on the mast which allows it to work 
freely in all directions. The bowsprit does not 
pass through a gammon iron, neither is it otherwise 
fixed to the stem of the boat, but has attached to it 



88 OPEN SAILING-BOATS 

a line or out-haul which is rove through an eyebolt 
in the stem and is then led aft to a belaying cleat. 
When the sail is to serve as jib, this line is hauled 
taut and belayed ; this brings the spar amidships, 




Fig. 54.— Half-decked Boat. 



and it acts as a bowsprit. When one is running 
before the wind the line is slacked off, and by means 
of one of the two guys attached to the end of it the 
spar is swung round, on the gooseneck as pivot, to 



HALF-DECKED BOAT 89 

the required side, until it is at right angles to the 
length of the boat; it then becomes spinnaker- 
boom, and the sail serves as spinnaker, one of the 
jib-sheets now acting as spinnaker tack. 

On many small craft carrying a single head-sail 
the latter is conveniently reefed by an arrangement 
that reefs it along the forestay. 

As has already been pointed out, it is better that 
a small boat, intended for single-handed sailing and 
rowing on smooth water, should be entirely open ; 
decking of any description is for her unnecessary, 
is much in the way, and adds to the weight. But 
with a slightly bigger craft, intended for cruising on 
more exposed waters, where one is likely to fall in 
with a lumpy sea at times, it is of advantage to have 
a half deck. A half-decked boat can be sailed with 
greater safety in rough water than if she were quite 
open ; a sudden heeling of the boat, that would at 
once fill and swamp an open boat, will only send 
the water flowing down the lee waterways, leaving 
the half-decked boat dry within. A half-decked 
boat (Fig. 54) is partly decked fore and aft, and has 
waterways on either side. The well is surrounded 
by a low coaming to keep the water out. In the 
bigger half-decked boats the deck forward covers 
a cuddy or small cabin which affords comfortable 
sleeping quarters, while spacious lockers, in which 
sails, stores, and so forth can be stowed away, 
surround the sides of the well and occupy the space 
under the after-deck. 



90 



OPEN SAILING-BOATS 



In addition to the rigs described in this chapter 
as suitable for small craft, there are others with 
which I have not dealt as being not in use in this 
country. There is the lateen-rig, for example, 
graceful, but somewhat difficult to manage, and 
having the disadvantages of the standing-lug. The 
account of two cruises in lateen-rigged craft with 
which this volume ends will convey some idea of the 
Arab method of handling their vessels. 




""^nm- 



RsETjjjD Stamping Lug and Roller Foresail. 



CHAPTER VI 

DECKED BOATS 

A cutter's spars, sails, standing and running rigging — Advantages of 
the yawl and ketch rigs. 

So soon as the small-boat sailor has gained his 
experience, he will in all probability be anxious to 
own a yacht with which he can cruise with comfort 
and safety on the open sea ; and this he can cer- 
tainly do with a ten-tonner, or an even smaller 
craft, provided she be a good sea-boat, and sound in 
hull and gear from truck to keel. As we are now 
concerned with small craft only, of ten tons and 
under, nothing need be said of the schooner rig, 
which is only suitable for larger vessels ; and it will 
suffice to give in this chapter a description of the 
spars, sails, standing and running rigging of the 
cutter, the favourite English rig for this class of 
boat, and to make some remarks on the yawl and 
ketch rigs which but slightly differ from that of the 
cutter. 

In Fig 55 are represented all the important parts 
of a small cutter yacht. 



92 



DECKED BOATS 



To commence with her spars — these are: i, the 
mast ; 2, the topmast ; 3, the bowsprit ; ^, the boom ; 
S, the gaff; and 6, the topsail-yard. 




>n. 



a Hounds. 

i Yoke. 

c Cap. 

d Topmast Fid. 

e Crosstrees (section). 

/^y Peak Halyard Blocks. 

£■ Throat Halyard Block. 

h Jib Halyard Block (one 
each side of mast). 

fj Topmast. 

M Mainmast. 

tH Forestay. 

ft Bolster. 

/ Topping Lift Sheave, one 
each side of mast. 



Fig. s6. — Masthead 

Within a few feet of the head of the mast (see Fig. 
56) are, a, the Aounds, projecting wooden shoulders 
which support the shrouds and stays, and if the 
vessel have a topmast, the hounds are surmounted 



CUTTER'S SPARS 93 

by what is termed th^yoke. The yoke, b, is made of 
hard wood and is strengthened by an encircling 
iron band ; the yoke fits round the mast and is 
bolted to it. 

The topmast is made to slide through the cap, 
Cy an iron ring fastened to the fore end of the mast- 
head, and also through a hole in the fore side of the 
yoke. When hoisted, it is kept in its place by the 
fid, d, 2l short iron bar which, passing through a hole 
at the heel of the topmast, rests on the yoke, and 
prevents the spar from coming down. Contrivances 
have been invented by which the topmast can be 
fidded and unfidded, and so can be sent up or 
brought down from the deck, without its being 
necessary to send a hand aloft, a great advantage on 
a small boat. The topmast should work easily, but 
not too loosely, through the yoke and cap, and so 
should the fid through the hole in the spar ; for it 
is important that a topmast should come down 
quickly. In heavy weather a vessel is relieved to an 
extraordinary extent when this spar, whose weight 
aloft exerts enormous leverage, is housed on deck. 
To the yoke also are fitted the cross-trees (see Fig. 
55, 7, and Fig. 56, e), over which the topmast 
shrouds are carried to give them further spread. 
At the head of the topmast is the truck, 8, a 
wooden cap through which the signal halyards 
are rove. 

The bowsprit (Fig. 57) is made to run in and out 
easily. It passes between strong wooden bits «, 



94 



DECKED BOATS 



which are securely fastened to the deck, and then 
through the gammon iron, b, an iron ring covered 
with leather which is bolted 
on the stem head. When the 
bowsprit is run out, it is kept 
in its place by an iron fid, ^, 
which passes through the bow- 
sprit heel, and rests against 
the foreside of the bitts. It is 
usual to have two or three fid 
holes in the bowsprit, so that 
the spar can be run in and 
reefed to the required length 
according to the jib that is to 
be set. To shorten the bow- 
^ sprit in bad weather relieves 
the vessel quite as much as 
does the housing of the top- 
mast ; for the great leverage 
exercised by this long over- 
lie 57- hanging spar tends to drive 
the vessel's bows into the seas. It is therefore 
important that the bowsprit should come in readily. 
The gammon iron should be large ; and the fid 
should be stout, else the strain on it may cause it 
to bend, and so to jam. 

The Boom is usually fitted to the mast with a 
galvanised-iron gooseneck, giving it free play in 
every direction. When a yacht is sailing, the main- 
sail exerts a great strain upon the boom, so that 




CUTTER'S BOOM 95 

unless it is sufficiently stout the spar buckles, or 
bends, and the sail can no longer stand flat. The 
chief strain comes upon the centre of the boom, so 
that it is always made thicker in that part and is 
tapered away towards either end. 

The weight of a cutter's boom, and the leverage 
of its great length always acting on the lee-side, 
and so diminishing the stability of the vessel, become 
a source of danger in a heavy sea, causing the vessel 
to labour and strain ; one of the most serious acci- 
dents that can befall a cutter when combating a 
gale is for this unwieldy spar to get adrift, or carry 
away and ' take command,' when it is not unlikely 
to drive a hole through the vessel's side, or to sweep 
the crew off the deck. Thus it is that the prudent 
captain of the cutter in heavy weather stows his 
mainsail, lashes his boom amidships, and sails under 
his snug trysail. 

With the object of reducing the weight of the 
boom as much as possible, while leaving it sufficiently 
stiff to resist the strain of the sail without buckling, 
hollow and built spars have been employed on large 
cutters. The prejudice that so long existed in 
England as to the undesirability of lacing the foot 
of the mainsail to the boom has almost disappeared. 
It has dawned upon us that this practice, universally 
adopted in America, does not necessarily destroy 
the springiness and liveliness of a vessel, and so 
make her a worse sea-boat and a slower sailer. 
That a mainsail stands flatter when bent to the 



96 DECKED BOATS 

boom is beyond question. Moreover, another most 
important advantage is gained, as has been pointed 
out in a previous chapter ; a far lighter boom will 
resist the strain of the sail without buckling, when 
lacing is employed, than when the sail is merely 
attached to the two extremities of the spar. 

The Gaff, like the boom, should be no heavier 
than is absolutely necessary. A heavy gaff, when 
hoisted, involves excessive top hamper, a weight 
aloft exerting great leverage, all of which is directed 
so as to decrease the stability of the vessel, and 
make her labour in a seaway. But, on the other 
hand, the gaff must not be too light, else it will 
buckle in a breeze, and the sail will be baggy. 

The gaff travels up and down the mast on the 
jaws. These are horns of wood or iron covered 
with leather. The latter are neater, and are not so 
likely to jam the halyards. The jaws half encircle 
the mast, and the parral, a line with wooden beads 
threaded on it, passes round the mast from one horn 
of the jaws to the other, and so prevents the jaws 
from losing their hold on the mast. 

.The Topsail Yard is a light spar, to which the 
head of the topsail is bent, and to which the topsail 
halyards are made fast. 

We now come to the cutter's sails. These are the 
mainsail, A (see Fig. 55), the foresail, B, the jib, C, 
and the topsail, D. The upper edge of a sail is 
called the head ; the fore or weather edge is the 
luff; the lower edge is the foot ; and the after edge 



CUTTER'S SAILS 97 

IS the leach. The different corners of the sails also 
have their names : the upper fore corner is the 
throat of the sail ; the upper after corner is the 
peak ; the lower fore corner is the tack ; and the 
lower after corner is the clew. Of these sails the 
mainsail and the foresail alone are provided with 
reef-points, P, and reef-cringles, 10, so that their 
area can, when necessary, be reduced by taking 
in one or more reefs, a process that will be explained 
further on. Instead of reefing a jib when the wind 
freshens, the sail is taken in and a smaller jib is 
hoisted in its stead ; for every cutter should carry 
at least two jibs, and it is better to have three, even 
on a five-tonner — one being a very small spit-fire 
jib of stout canvas, to be used if one is caught out 
in really heavy weather. Larger yachts carry five 
or six jibs. In strong winds the topsail is taken in, 
and the topmast is housed ; or a small jib-headed 
topsail is hoisted in the place of the yard topsail. 

The mainsail has its head laced to the gaff, and 
its foot, as has been said, is sometimes laced to the 
boom. Its luff is fastened to the wooden or iron 
mast hoops that are made to run easily up and 
down the mast. On a large vessel the clew of the 
mainsail is hauled out on the boom by a tackle, and 
the tack also is hauled down by the main-tack 
tackle ; but on small vessels a rope is spliced into 
the thimble in the tack of the sail and made fast to 
the boom ; while the clew is hauled out by hand 
with a line rove through a hole at the end of the 

G 



98 



DECKED BOATS 



boom. But this clew outhaul should never be so 
fastened that it cannot be easily cast-off; for it 
should be tautened when one goes out sailing, and 
slackened up when one returns to one's moorings. 
If it is made a fixture, as is too often done, it 
becomes much too taut after a shower of rain has 
shrunk the sail and ropes, and is certain to pull 
the sail out of shape. 

Xhe Foresail in a cutter is the triangular sail 
set on the forestay ; along the luff of the sail are 

attached at intervals 
hanks or iron hoops, 
which run up and down 
the forestay. It can be 
reefed down like the 
mainsail. 

The Jib is a tri- 
angular sail whose clew 
is hauled out on the 
bowsprit. It was the 
old fashion to have 
the cloths of this sail 
parallel with the leach. 
But a jib thus cut has 
a tendency to get very 
baggy, in which case it is always on the shake, and 
becomes ineffective when the vessel is close-hauled. 
On nearly all cutter yachts, what are known as 
angulated jibs are now used, in which half the cloths 
are parallel with the foot of the sail and the other 




CUTTER'S TOPSAIL 



99 
A jib thus 



half parallel with the leach (Fig. 58) 
constructed stands very flat. 

The Yard Topsail is laced to the yard. The 
Jib Topsail is a triangular sail, whose luff is laced 




Fig. 59. 

to the mast after it is hoisted. On a very small 

yacht it is well to dispense with a topmast, and carry 

what is known as a pole-mast, that is, a mast which 
iLcfC. 



100 



DECKED BOATS 



is prolonged above the hounds in a long tapering 
pole. A yard topsail can be set on a pole-mast 
in the following manner. The sail is stretched out 
on the deck and its luff is laced to a light yard 
(see Fig. 59). The halyard is bent on to the yard 
at a, and passes through a sheave-hole in the mast ; 
the sail is then hoisted till it is chock-a-block, the 




Fig. 60.— Spinnaker to Port. 

halyard is belayed, and the yard is made to lie 
straight up and down the mast by means of a down- 
haul, ^, fastened to the heel of the spar. The sail is 
sheeted aft to the gaff like the ordinary topsail. In 
order to set a larger topsail without increasing the 
hoist, a jack-yard, ^, is often employed. -This is a 
small spar, bent on the after end of a topsail's foot, 
which extends the sail to some distance beyond the 
end of the gaff. 



SPINNAKER 



lOI 



The Spinnaker is a large jib-headed sail of light 
canvas only used for running before the wind, when 
it is boomed out on the opposite side to the main- 
sail. The spinnaker-boom works on a gooseneck on 
the foreside of the mast, and, when not in use, is 
generally topped up so as to lie along the mast 
On large yachts the spinnaker-boom, when topped 
up, rises above the hounds, so that it has always to 
be unshipped for a jibe. It is more convenient on a 
small cruising yacht 
to have a shorter boom 
that will dip under 
the forestay, and can 
therefore be passed 
over to the other side 
without being un- 
shipped. In Fig. 60 a 
cutter is represented 
sailing before the 
wind with spinnaker 
set. In Fig. 60 <2, a 
is the goose-neck onj^ 
the mast to which the 
spinnaker-boom, ^, is 
attached ; c is the 
topping lift which 
supports the boom 

when the spinnaker is set, and by means of which 
the boom is topped up along the mast; d is 
the after-guy, which is fastened to the spinnaker 




Fig, 60 «. 



102 DECKED BOATS 

boom and leads aft. It enables the boom to be 
trimmed to the required angle. It is also advisable 
to have a fore-guy, leading from the boom to the 
bows to prevent the spinnaker from jibing accident- 
ally, or from swinging aft when the yacht is rolling 
about on a swell in a very light breeze, e is the 
spinnaker-halyard passing through a block fastened 
on the mast; /"is the out-haul by which the sail is 
hauled out on the boom ; g is the sheet which is 
made fast on deck. 

Every cruising yacht should carry a trysail for 
use in heavy weather. This is a small sail with a 
short head and gaff (some trysails are jib-headed 
and have no gaff). The trysail is set in the place 
of the mainsail ; it has no boom, and has two 
sheets, which are generally luff-tackles, one leading 
to each quarter. The luff of the sail is laced to the 
mast. 

We now come to the cutter's Standing and 
Running Rigging. Whereas the running rigging, 
consisting of the halyards, sheets, etc., which are 
employed for the hoisting and trimming of the 
sails, have constantly to be handled during the 
manoeuvring of a vessel, the standing rigging, con- 
sisting of the shrouds, stays, and so forth, is perma- 
nently fixed, or, at any rate, has to be shifted but 
occasionally, its object being to support the mast 
and bowsprit, and to prevent them from yielding to 
the pressure of the wind. 

Wire standing rigging is employed even on the 



STANDING RIGGING 103 

smallest boats, and its superiority to hemp rigging 
is now unquestioned. To commence with the 
rigging of the cutter's mast (see Fig. 55), it is sup- 
ported on either side by two wire shrouds. On 
larger vessels three or four shrouds a side are used, 
and the small lines known as ratlines are fastened 
across them to form the rungs of a rudder. At the 
upper end of each shroud an eye is spliced, which is 
passed over the head of the mast and rests on the 
hounds. To the lower end of each shroud a deadeye 
is attached by an eye-splice. (A deadeye is a 
wooden block with three holes in it.) On the chain- 
plates, 18y are attached other deadeyes, correspond- 
ing in number to those on the shrouds, and the 
rigging is set up by lanyards, ropes which are rove 
backwards and forwards between the two sets of 
deadeyes, in the fashion familiar to every one who 
has seen a sailing-vessel. 

On very small yachts deadeyes are usually dis- 
pensed with, and a line, with one end of it spliced 
to the eye in the shroud, and passing several times 
through that eye and another eye on the chain- 
plates, is all that is required. 

Iron screws are also sometimes employed instead 
of rope lanyards, but it is difficult to get over one's 
prejudice against these — if it be a prejudice — for one 
would imagine that thus to rigidly pin down a mast 
with iron, and so allow it no play, must put an 
unfair strain on the chain-plates and the sides of the 
vessel. 



I04 DECKED BOATS 

Next we have that important support to the mast, 
the forestay, H^ also of stout wire. Its eye is passed 
over the masthead after the shrouds have been put 
in their place, and it rests on the top of these. It 
is generally led over the stem, and is passed back 
to the deck through a hole in the stem head. An 
eye is spliced in its end, and is set up by a lanyard 
to a strong ring-bolt in the deck or to the bowsprit 
bitts. The iron hoops, to which the luff of the foresail 
is bent, are threaded on the forestay. 

The mainmast is further stayed by the runners, 
15y a great support when the vessel is running before 
the wind. The runners are set up by tackle ; it is 
always necessary, when sailing, that whichever one 
becomes the lee runner should be quickly slacked 
off so as to allow the main boom to swing sufficiently 
far out. 

To support the topmast, we have first the topmast 
shrouds, 16 ; these are spread out by the cross-trees, 
as has already been explained, and lead down to the 
chain-plates. When running before the wind, pre- 
venter backstays, i7, are also used. They are set 
up with a tackle and can be cast off easily ; for to 
allow the boom free play, the lee one must be let 
go, and it must not be forgotten that an accidental 
jibe, with the preventer backstay standing, will 
probably carry away the topmast. 

The topmast stay, 18^ leading from the topmast 
head to the end of the bowsprit, gives an additional 
support to the topmast. When a jib topsail is used, 



BOWSPRIT RIGGING 105 

its luff is fastened to hanks which run up and down 
the topmast stay. 

The bowsprit is stayed by the bobstay and the 
bowsprit shrouds ; the bobstay, 18a^ is the stay under- 
neath the bowsprit which prevents it from lifting; 
on a vessel of ten tons it would be arranged as 
follows. A piece of wire rope is shackled on to the 
stem close to the water line ; to this is attached a 
rope tackle with a single block at the lower end and 
a double block at its upper end, the double block 
being shackled on the cranse iron at the bowsprit 
end. This tackle is known as a luff- tackle purchase, 
for small yachts a tackle of two single blocks would 
suffice (a gun-tackle purchase). In either case the 
fall of the bobstay tackle leads from the double 
block, along the bowsprit, and is belayed on deck, 
generally on the bowsprit bitts. The cranse men- 
tioned above is the iron cap or hoop, with eyes on 
to which all the bowsprit rigging is hooked — one eye 
underneath for the bobstay, one on each side for the 
shrouds, and one at the top for the topmast stay. 

The bowsprit shrouds are also of wire rope. The 
method of fitting them will be made clear by refer- 
ring to Fig. 57. At one end they are shackled on to 
the cranse iron ; and to the other end are attached 
rope tackles, d. In small vessels the tackles are 
hooked to eyebolts on the outside of the vessel, the 
falls leading inboard through holes cut for them in 
the bulwarks ; but a better plan is that adopted on 
the larger yachts, of having the whole tackle brought 

G* 



io6 DECKED BOATS 

on board ; if the blocks are overboard, they drag 
through the water and stop the vessel's way when 
she leans over to the wind. In order to give the 
bowsprit shrouds more spread and so make them 
more effective, they are sometimes extended by 
whiskers, e^ iron rods fitted to the stem head, and 
terminating in little iron jaws on which the shrouds 
can run easily. 

When a bowsprit is reefed, both bobstay and 
bowsprit shrouds have to be tautened up by taking 
in the slack of the tackle. A small line {19 in Fig. 
55) is attached to the bobstay so that it can be 
hauled up out of the way — the tackle having been 
first slacked off to a sufficient extent — when the 
vessel is lying at anchor. 

RUNNING RIGGING 

We now come to the cutter's running rigging ; and 
to commence with the mainsail, we find that it is 
hoisted by two sets of halyards, the throat halyards 
and the peak halyards. The throat halyards of a 
small vessel would probably consist of a luff-tackle 
purchase, the single block being hooked on to an 
eyebolt at the throat of the gaff, and the double block 
on to the after-side of the mast close to the hounds. 
On larger vessels a more powerful purchase would, of 
course, be employed. The fall of the throat halyards 
leads down the starboard side of the mast and is 
belayed to the mast bitts ; these are stout upright 
timbers securely bolted through the deck into the 



RUNNING RIGGING 107 

deck-beams, and having cross pieces attached to 
them with racks for belaying-pins. 

In larger vessels purchases are fitted to the stand- 
ing parts of throat, peak, jib, and other halyards in 
order to obtain greater power. The purchase consists 
of two blocks, of which one is sometimes a double 
block ; the lower block of the purchase is hooked 
on to an eyebolt on the deck near the foot of the 
mast. When a vessel is under way it is far easier 
to get the sails taut by swinging on the purchases 
than by hauling on the halyards. Purchases are 
not required for small craft except for racing pur- 
poses. The less gear the better on the miniature 
yacht, and if you have too many halyards, purchases, 
and what not dangling along your mast, your amateur 
crew are likely to get very confused and to be ever 
hauling at or letting go the wrong rope. A friend 
of mine, who had never been at sea before, but who 
volunteered to join me on a cruise round the world 
on my thirty-ton yawl the Falcon, exclaimed in 
dismay when he first beheld her, * Oh, what a lot of 
strings there are about this boat ! I shall never know 
the use of them all.' And he never did master the 
ropes, though he was a volunteer hand on board for 
several months and sailed over many thousands of 
miles of ocean. The small sailing-boat needs but 
few * strings,' but too often her owner over * strings ' 
her and over blocks her, under the impression that she 
thus has a more imposing and yachtlike appearance. 

The peak halyards, by which the peak of the 



io8 DECKED BOATS 

mainsail is hoisted, are rove through single blocks 
on the gaff and on the masthead, the number of the 
blocks depending on the size of the sail. In Fig. 55 
the peak halyards, W^ are such as would be used on 
a ten-ton cutter. The fall leads through the lower 
block on the mast, down the port side of the mast, 
to be belayed on the mast bitts. The standing part 
leads through the upper block and is then fastened to 
the peak purchase, which is fitted in the same way' 
as the throat purchase. If no peak purchase is used 
there is no upper block on the mast, and the stand- 
ing part of the halyard is hooked on an eyebolt 
at the masthead. 

The tack tricing line is used to haul up the tack 
of the mainsail. This relieves a vessel considerably 
when caught in a squall, and also enables the man 
at the helm to see better ahead and avoid other 
vessels when sailing into a crowded harbour. One 
objection to the lacing of a mainsail to the boom is 
that the tack of the sail cannot be triced up unless 
the lacing is cast off. 

On small craft the tack tricing line is made fast 
to the tack of the sail, passes through a block 
under the gaff close to the jaws, and then leads 
down the mast to the deck. The main tack, which, 
as has already been said, is on small vessels merely 
a rope spliced into the tack cringle and belayed to 
the boom gooseneck, must of course be cast off 
before the corner of the sail can be triced up. The 
tack tricing line also serves as a throat downhaul 



MAINSHEET FITTING 



109 



when the mainsail is being lowered. In larger craft 
the tack is triced up by a gun-tackle purchase with 
one single block at the tack of the sail and another 
under the throat of the gaff. 

A small cutter's mainsheet should always work on 
an iron horse as in Fig. 61. A horse keeps the 
boom down, and 
obviates that lifting 
of the spar, and 
consequent bellying 
out of the sail which 
occurs when the 
mainsheet is other- 
wise fitted. A main- 
sheet, arranged as in 
Fig. 61, is suitable 
for a small yacht. 
One end of the 
sheet is spliced 
round a single block which works on the horse ; the 
sheet is rove through a double block stropped on 
to the boom, through the single block, back again 
through the double block, and lastly, through a 
block on the deck amidships, from which it is led 
to the cleat on which it is belayed. 

On either side of the sail are the topping lifts 
(Fig. 55, ^i), two stout ropes, which, when hauled 
taut, relieve the sail of the weight of the boom, and 
are of especial service when the vessel is running 
before the wind. The standing part of a topping- 




FlG. 61. 



no DECKED BOATS 

lift is hooked on to an eye in an iron band encircling 
the boom ; the hauling part is rove through a single 
block on the hounds of the mast and then leads 
down the mast to terminate in a purchase similar 
to that used for the throat halyards. 

The peak downhaul, Fig. 55, ^^, is a line leading 
through a single block at the gaff end. It is used 
for hauling down the peak when the mainsail is 
being lowered. On small crafts it also serves as the 
ensign halyards. 

We next come to the running rigging of the 
foresail. Even on large yachts no purchase is fitted 
to the standing part of the fore halyards ; for as the 
sail is set on a stay, its luff being attached to the 
hanks which work on the forestay, it needs but little 
power to haul it taut. On a ten-tonner the fore 
halyards are generally fitted as follows. The stand- 
ing part is hooked on to an eyebolt on one side of 
the masthead under the yoke, then the rope is led 
through a single block hooked on to the cringle at 
the head of the sail, passes up again to be rove 
through a single block hooked on to an eyebolt 
under the yoke (on the opposite side of the mast to 
that on which the eyebolt for the standing part 
is fixed), and then leads down the mast to its 
belaying-pin. 

On a small cutter the tack cringle of the foresail is 
usually hooked on to the stem ; but on larger vessels 
a tack tackle is employed. 

The foresheets are fitted in various ways. The 



FORESHEETS 



III 



method shown in Fig. 62 will do well for a small 
yacht. Two single blocks,^ are hooked on to the 
clew of the foresail. The standing part of each 
sheet is spliced into an eye on deck ; the other end 




Fig. 62. 



is rove through one of the single blocks on the clew, 
and leads to the cleat aft to which it is to be belayed. 
In the diagram the sheets are also led through two 
blocks fastened to the deck of the boat ; this is a 
good plan — it enables the sail to be hauled in flat to 



112 DECKED BOATS 

the most effective angle, and also makes the labour 
easier. In larger vessels the standing part of each 
foresheet is stropped to one of the single blocks 
hooked on to the clew, is rove through a single 
block fastened to the deck or bulwarks about abreast 
of the mast, then back through the block on the 
clew of the sail, and thence aft to its belaying-pin. 

On a small yacht the jib halyards are fitted in 
exactly the same way as the fore halyards. They 
are rove through a single block, which is hooked or 
shackled on to the head of the sail ; the eyebolt to 
which the standing part of the halyards is hooked, 
and the upper block through which they lead, are on 
opposite sides of the mast, above the yoke, close 
under the masthead. On all large vessels a jib 
purchase is fitted to the standing part of the jib 
halyards. 

The tack of the jib is hooked on to an iron 
traveller, a hoop working easily on the bowsprit. 
The traveller is then hauled out to the bowsprit end 
by the jib out-haul which is thus fitted. One end of 
a rope is spliced into an eye on the traveller, and 
the other end is rove through a sheave-hole at the 
bowsprit end just inside the cranse iron. The rope 
enters the sheave-hole from above, and coming out 
beneath, has a single block spliced into its end. 
Another rope is rove through this block, one end of 
the rope being made fast to the bowsprit bitts or to 
some other convenient place, while the other end 
leads on board to form the hauling part. A small 



YAWL RIG 113 

line should be fastened to the traveller to lead on 
board and serve as in-haul. 

The jib sheets of a very small vessel do not 
require tackle; but they should be led through 
fairleads or blocks so situated that they bring the 
sail down to the most effective angle when the 
vessel is close-hauled, and prevent it from bellying. 

Knots should be tied at the ends of both jib 
and fore sheets, so that in case they get adrift they 
will not slip through the blocks or fairleads. 

Lastly, we have the running rigging connected 
with the topsail. The topsail halyards of a small 
cutter consist of a single rope which is rove through 
a sheave-hole at the head of the topmast, close 
under the topmast rigging. 

The topsail sheet, see Fig. 59 (^), is rove through 
a sheave-hole at the end of the gaff and through 
a block on a wire pendant, fastened on to the jaws 
of the gaff. This is the plan adopted, whether the 
topsail be a yard topsail or a jib header. The tack 
is led down and belayed at the foot of the mast. 

The rig of the Yawl, or dandy, differs but slightly 
from that of the cutter. The yawl's boom does not 
project over the counter as does the cutter's, and 
the mainsail is accordingly smaller than that of the 
single stick boat. The yawl, see Fig. 63, carries 
a small mizzen-mast or jigger on her counter, which 
enables her to set a little mizzen-sail, generally 
either a standing-lug or a leg-of-mutton sail. A 
short outrigger or bumpkin may be fitted to a yawl's 

H 



114 



DECKED BOATS 



stern, at the end of which is a block or sheave- 
hole through which the mizzen-sheet is rove. If the 
mizzen is a good sized one, the bumpkin is provided 
with wire shrouds leading to either side of the stern, 
and with a wire bobstay. The mizzen-mast generally 
has one wire shroud on each side. Sometimes the 




^^^^^^^- 



Fig. 63.— Yawl, 



mizzen-mast is further supported by stays leading 
from the masthead forward, which are set up by 
tackles. These stays are not used when the vessel 
is sailing free ; the weather one is set up when the 
vessel is close-hauled. Care must be taken to ease 
off the tackle if the main boom is swinging over, 
else it may carry away the mizzen. 

A yawl is not so fast as a cutter of the same size, 



ADVANTAGES OF A YAWL 115 

but she is far more easily handled, and is much 
to be preferred for single-handed cruising. Having 
a shorter and lighter boom, she is more fitted to 
encounter heavy weather ; as the boom is all inboard, 
it is easy to take in reefs in the mainsail ; whereas 
to reef down the large mainsail of a cutter yacht, 
on an unwieldy boom projecting far over the counter, 
is a difficult and laborious task when the vessel is 
tumbling about in a seaway. 

A yawl, too, can be comfortably hove to under 
mizzen and jib, and then, if there be but one man 
on board, he can leave the helm while he lowers the 
mainsail on deck and reefs it at his leisure, the vessel 
taking care of herself. 

Moreover, the operation of reefing, necessarily of 
so frequent occurrence on a cutter, can often be 
avoided on a yawl ; when the rising wind demands 
the reduction of canvas, this can be done by other 
methods than reefing, while yet leaving the sails 
nicely balanced. For example, when struck by a 
squall a vessel can be greatly relieved by hauling 
down the foresail. But to lower the foresail of a 
cutter without at the same time reefing the main- 
sail puts the vessel out of trim, causes her to carry 
excessive weather helm, and in some cases to become 
almost unmanageable. On a yawl, on the other 
hand, the foresail and mizzen are lowered, and 
then the vessel will sail well under m^nsail and 
jib. If it comes on to blow still harder, the 
mainsail can be lowered, and then under mizzen, 



ii6 DECKED BOATS 

small jib, and reefed foresail, she will jog along very 
comfortably. 

For knocking about on stormy waters the Ketch 
is to be preferred even to the yawl. This is the 
snuggest and handiest of all rigs, and is the favourite 
for our deep-sea fishing-boats and coasters. The 
ketch, see Fig. 41, like the yawl, has a main and 
mizzen mast ; but the mainsail is smaller and the 
boom shorter than the yawl's ; while the mizzen-mast 
is not stepped in the counter, but is well inboard, 
so as just to clear the main boom, and carries a 
much larger sail than the yawl's mizzen. No mizzen- 
bumpkin is needed for the sheet, and the mizzen-boom 
works on a horse on the counter. The mizzen-mast 
is rigged like the mainmast with shrouds and runners, 
and also has shifting forestays with tackles. The 
mizzen-sail has a gaff like the mainsail, its luff is 
fastened to mast-hoops, it is hoisted by throat and 
peak halyards, and a jib-headed topsail is often set 
above it. I cruised for two summers on the Baltic 
on a ketch of three tons register ; and, remembering 
that experience, were I ever again to fit out a small 
vessel for an ocean voyage, I would certainly — more 
especially if my crew was composed of amateurs — 
adopt this very safe and handy rig, even though it 
were at the expense of a little speed. 

The yawl and ketch require fewer hands to handle 
them than the cutter. Thus, when I visited the 
desert island of Trinidada with my fifty-six tonner, 
the Alerte, the majority of my companions were 



ADVANTAGES OF KETCH RIG 117 

encamped on shore, digging for the treasure which 
was never found ; while two of us only remained 
on board to look after the yacht, which, in conse- 
quence of the badness of the anchorage, was ever 
kept under weigh on the open Atlantic. For months, 
in fair weather and foul, we two were thus afloat. 
By night we used to heave her to, some miles off 
the shore, under trysail and small jib, and in the 
morning we used to hoist the foresail and sail in 
towards the shore to communicate with our friends 
by signal (for the perpetual heavy surf made landing 
dangerous and often impossible). We even sailed 
her thus short-handed to Bahia and back to obtain 
provisions — a voyage of fourteen hundred miles. 
We should have had a good deal more difficulty 
in doing this had our vessel been cutter-rigged. 




The Alerte's Boat. 



CHAPTER VII 

SEAMANSHIP 

How to set, reef, and take in sails — Getting under weigh — Full and 
bye — Tacking — Running — ^Jybing — Heaving-to — Balance of sails 
— Sailing with wind abeam — In a Pampero — Coming to an anchor- 
age and picking up moorings — The drogue. 

Having described the various portions of the rig- 
ging of a small fore-and-aft craft, I will now explain 
how the principal manoeuvres connected with the 
sailing of the boat are executed. Practice alone 
will enable the amateur sailor to promptly decide 
what course of action he should take in any set of 
conditions that may arise, and to perform the re- 
quired operations smartly and without hesitation. 
For that ' he who hesitates is lost ' is an adage that 
has but too often been proved true at sea. The sailor 
must be able to put his hands upon any rope on 
board, in a moment, in the darkest night ; and to 
reef, tie, or untie any knot, as well with his eyes 
shut as open. But the novice must not be dis- 
couraged if he make mistakes at first. All novices 
commit strange blunders when orders are given 
them to do this or that, as the two following anec- 
dotes will show. It is now several years ago that 



AN AMATEUR CREW 119 

I sailed from Southampton on a thirty-ton yacht 
with a crew of amateurs, of whom only one had 
ever before in his life handled tiller or hauled on 
rope at sea. It was a crew of briefless barristers, 
by the way, and people prophesied that with such 
a strange ship's company we should never get out- 
side the chops of the Channel. However, we con- 
trived to reach Buenos Ayres, and to cruise over 
many thousands of miles of the South Atlantic 
Ocean without mishap. My companions, with the 
exception of the one who took the port watch, did 
not even know the names of the ropes before start- 
ing, and their nautical education commenced when 
we weighed our anchor. 

I took the starboard wjatch with one of the brief- 
less barristers, and this is what occurred one stormy 
night in mid-Atlantic. I quote the description of 
the incident from The Cruise oj the Falcon, the 
published narrative of the voyage: 'Time, 2 A.M. 
Dark and squally night. Captain steering. A 
smoking and pondering (supposed to be looking 
out). Captain, observing squall coming up, loquitur-. 
"A, just run forward and scandalise the mainsail,. 
will you ? Begin by tricing up the tack." 

'A creeps deliberately forward, and disappears 
in the darkness. Five minutes elapse. Captain, 
impatiently : " Now, then, have not you finished that 
yet?" 

* A : " In a minute — in a minute." 

' Another five minutes elapse ; we are now in 



120 SEAMANSHIP 

the middle of the squall, which does not prove so 
violent as was anticipated. Captain, very impatient : 
"You are a nice, useful fellow on board a yacht! 
Ten minutes, and you have not triced up that tack. 
If that had been a serious squall, we might have 
gone to the devil while you were fiddling about 
there." 

* A (very indignant) : " I do not care. I will leave 
the beastly thing alone. I will not be sworn at. 
In the daytime I can find the strings ; in the night 
I cannot, and I shall no longer try." ' 

So, too, on another occasion, when it was my 
watch below, I was awakened by a tremendous row, 
a banging about of ropes, and louder, above the din, 
the stentorian voice of the officer of the watch raised 
in anger. On coming on deck I found that, on being 
ordered to let fly the jib-sheet, that the ship might 
go about, the briefless barrister on that watch had 
let go in succession the jib halyards, the bowsprit 
shrouds, and the peak halyards. And with this 
crew the Falcon was navigated across the Atlantic 
and half round the world ! So there is hope for the 
clumsiest tyro. 

Before explaining how the different manceuvres 
are performed on a yacht, I will describe how the 
sails are hoisted, lowered, and reefed. 

The Mainsail, when stowed in harbour, is rolled 
up neatly, the middle of the leach having been first 
hauled forward and laid along^the boom. When the 
sail is furled, its folds are tied together by short 



SETTING A MAINSAIL 121 

lengths of rope, or canvas strips, called tyers or 
gaskets. The sail is then covered with a coat of 
painted canvas, which is laced underneath the boom ; 
but the coat should never be put on unless the sail 
is thoroughly dry, else mildew will soon make its 
appearance. The boom when the sail is furled rests 
on a wooden crutch. 

To set the mainsail. Remove the sail-coat ; hook 
on the peak halyards ; slack off the main-sheet, so 
as to allow the boom to be topped up a few feet 
with the topping-lift — if there are two topping-lifts, 
haul on the weather one ; then get the main-sheet 
taut again, and belay it; cast off the tyers. The 
sail is now ready for hoisting. To get it up, haul 
on both throat and peak halyards until the throat 
is as high as it will go and the luff of the sail is 
drawn taut; but while doing this do not let the 
peak of the sail get higher than the throat, for if 
the peak be hoisted too fast the throat will travel 
up the mast with difficulty, and cannot be got taut. 
Take care also that the gaff passes between the 
two topping-lifts, or on the right side of the single 
topping-lift, if there be but one topping-lift, as is 
usual on small cutters. The throat being well up, 
belay the throat halyards ; then haul away on the 
peak halyards until the peak is well up — that is, 
until the sail begins to wrinkle at the throat. 

In order to get the sail to stand as flat as possible, 
the tack should be made fast before hoisting. 

If the clew of the sail has not been hauled out 
H* 



122 SEAMANSHIP 

taut along the boom before the sail is hoisted, this 
should be done before the peak is right up, and 
before the tack is fast. 

When the sail is up, stow away in a locker, or 
other place set apart for the purpose, the boom- 
crutch, mainsail-coat, and tyers ; for nothing is more 
unseamanlike than to leave lying about on deck 
gear which is not required for immediate use. 
'Where the dickens have those other two tyers 
got to ? ' 'I don't know, Ted. They must have 
been washed overboard when we shipped that 
sea,* is the sort of conversation, over the stowing 
of a sail after a cruise, that betokens a slovenly 
crew. 

Having belayed the halyards, coil them neatly, 
' with the sun,' and then capsize them — that is, turn 
the coils over, so that the last coil is on the top 
and the halyard end is underneath. Unless this is 
done, the halyards, if let go in a hurry, are likely 
to twist round some of the coils and carry them 
up the mast, to jam the block and prevent the 
sail from lowering more than half-way down. 

To reef a mainsail. One reef-pennant, or reef- 
earring, at least, should always be kept rove, in 
readiness for use. A reef-pennant is a rope which 
passes through a comb-cleat (see Fig. 64) at the 
end of the boom, through the reef-cringle on the 
sail, and down through a comb-cleat on the opposite 
side of the boom. The comb-cleat has three reef- 
holes or more — one for each reef-pennant. At the 



REEFING A MAINSAIL 



123 



end of the reef-pennant is a knot which prevents^ 
it sh'pping through the hole in the comb-cleat. 

To take a reef down in the mainsail, top up the 
boom a bit, and haul it well inboard with the sheet ; 
slack away the throat and peak halyards to allow 




SSSS3SSS: 



Fig, 64. 



of the reef-cringle being brought down to the boom. 
When the cringle has been got well down with the 
earring, secure the earring to the boom with a reef- 
pennant bend, the method of forming which is shown 
in the figure. Hook the tack on the reef-cringle 
at the luff of the sail, bowse it down and secure it. 
Roll up the foot of the sail tightly, and tie the 



124 SEAMANSHIP 

reef-points as taut as possible ; then haul on the 
halyards till the sail is once more properly set. 

To scandalise a mainsail. So as to reduce the 
area of canvas rapidly in a squall, or as a precaution 
when about to jibe in a strong wind, the mainsail 
can be scandalised. This is done by tricing up the 
tack of the sail with the tricing line and lowering 
the peak. 

To set a Jib. In the first place, if they are slack, 
the bobstay, the bowsprit-shrouds, and the topmast- 
stay must be hauled taut in succession. Then lay 
the jib on the deck forward, with its tack turned 
to the bows. Hook the tack of the sail on the 
traveller and the halyards to the head-cringle of 
the sail, not without looking aloft first to see that 
there are no turns in the halyards. Pass the jib- 
sheets through the comb-cleats or the leading blocks, 
and tie an overhand knot at the end of each sheet, 
to prevent its running out through its fair-lead when 
the jib is flapping about. Fasten the jib-sheets on 
to the clew of the sail, and if clip-hooks are employed 
for this purpose mouse them with twine. 

It is usual, when setting a big jib, to first hoist 
the head of the sail about half-way up with the 
halyards, then to haul the tack out on the bowsprit, 
and lastly to hoist the halyards till the sail is right 
up ; but with a small sail it is better to haul the 
tack out and belay the outhaul fall before pulling 
on the halyards; for, unless it is blowing hard, it 
is easy so to handle the sail as to prevent it falling 



TAKING IN A JIB 125 

into the water. It is sometimes convenient to hoist 
a jib without removing the stops — short yarns with 
which it is tied when rolled up. When the sail is 
hoisted, a pull on the sheets breaks the yarns and 
the sail falls out free. 

If the jib is being hoisted when the vessel is under 
way, take the halyards to the lee-side of the fore- 
sail before hooking them on to the sail. 

To take in a jib, slack up the out-haul and pull the 
sail inboard, * muzzling ' it — that is, gathering it with 
your arms as it comes in. Then let go the halyards 
and pull the sail down. If two hands can be spared 
for the work, one of them should commence to lower 
the halyards as the sail is coming in along the bow- 
sprit. It requires an experienced hand to take in 
a jib. smartly in a strong breeze when the boat is 
tumbling about ; and the novice, when undertaking 
this task single-handed, must be careful not to let 
the jib blow out of his hands into the water, to tow 
under the keel. 

When the jib is in, unhook the traveller, the sheets, 
and halyards, and make these all fast in their re- 
spective places. 

Even on a cutter of considerable tonnage one hand 
suffices to hoist or lower the FORESAIL. To hoist 
a foresail, hook the sheets and halyards on the sail, 
and belay one or both sheets according to circum- 
stances. Then hoist the sail with the halyards and 
get down the tack — if there is a tack tackle. 

To reef a foresail it is best to lower the sail on 



126 SEAMANSHIP 

deck. Roll up the foot of the sail ; tie up the reef- 
point. Hook the tack and sheets to the reef-cringles, 
and then haul the sail up again with the halyards. 

To set a Gaff-TOPSAIL. Lay the sail on deck and 
lace its head to the yard. Bend the sheet to the 
clew with a gaff-topsail sheet-bend (see Fig. 31). 
Bend on the halyards with a topsail halyard-bend 
(see Fig. 30). Hoist on the halyards, while keeping 
some strain on the tack to steady the sail and guide 
it ; and haul in the slack of the sheet as the sail 
goes up. When the yard is chock-a-block belay the 
halyards, get the tack down with its tackle and 
belay it, and lastly haul in the sheet. 

To set a Jib-headed Topsail, a hand is sent 
aloft who laces the luff of the sail to the topmast 
while the sail is being hoisted. 

The method of setting a jib-headed topsail on a 
pole mast has already been explained. 

Topsails of any sort should be hoisted and lowered 
on the weather-side of the mainsail. If hoisted or 
lowered on the lee-side they are apt to blow away. 
Topsails are passed up between the mainsail and 
the topping-lift, and care must be taken when bend- 
ing the sheets to lead them inside the topping-lift. 

In order to set a Spinnaker, the spinnaker-boom 
is first lowered to the required side of the vessel 
by slacking up the spinnaker topping-lift. At the 
same time the fore and the after guys are led to 
the two extremities of the vessel, and with these 
the boom is guided until it is 'squared' — that is, 



GETTING UNDER WAY 127 

extended overboard at right angles to the keel. 
The guys are then belayed. The halyards, out-haul, 
and sheets are bent on to the sail, and the sheet is 
belayed. The sail is hoisted with the halyards, and 
then the tack is hauled out to the boom end with 
the out-haul. If there be much wind it may be found 
necessary to slack up the sheet a bit until the out- 
haul has been belayed. 

To take in a spinnaker, let go the out-haul first 
and drag the sail inboard. Then let go the halyards 
and haul the head of the sail down on deck. 

To GET UNDER WAY is not SO simple a matter as 
might be supposed, and is often, indeed, a difficult 
and delicate business that taxes the skill even of 
the experienced sailor. 'A slight error of judgment 
when weighing anchor or slipping from one's moor- 
ings in a crowded anchorage may result in one's 
craft drifting across another vessel's stem, before 
she can be got under control ; and if the tide be 
running strong, thus to collide with an anchored 
vessel is likely to cause the sinking of one's own. 

Before proceeding to get under way, get whatever 
sails you intend to use ready for hoisting ; cast off 
their tyers and stops, leaving, perhaps, one tyer 
round the 'bunt' or middle of the mainsail to keep 
it from blowing loose ; bend on halyards and sheets, 
top the main boom, and see that the runners, etc., 
are belayed in their right places. 

The usual method of getting under way with a 
cutter when she is riding head to wind and tide, 



128 SEAMANSHIP 

the wind being moderate, is as follows: — Heave 
short, that is, get up the chain until it is nearly- 
straight up and down, and the yacht is almost over 
her anchor. Hoist the mainsail. Trip the anchor 
smartly, and just as it is leaving the ground hoist 
the jib and foresail ; at the same time cant the vessel 
over on the required tack by putting the helm to 
port or starboard, as the case may be, for the tide 
passing under an anchored vessel gives her steerage 
way, which she preserves for a short time after the 
anchor is a-weigh. To cant the vessel the quicker, 
keep the foresail to windward by hoisting it with 
its weather-sheet belayed (if necessary, keep the jib 
also to windward), and ease off the main-sheet. As 
soon as the vessel has paid off sufficiently and her 
mainsail is filling, let the head-sails draw. If you 
wish to sail close-hauled, do not flatten in your main- 
sheet until you have gathered good steerage way. 
If you wish to run before the wind, ease the main- 
sheet well off, and you may keep the peak lowered 
until the vessel's head is well round. 

It of course requires two hands to get a vessel 
under way in the manner described above. But on 
a small cutter the operation can be performed single- 
handed. Hoist jib and mainsail before heaving 
upon the cable, leaving the jib-sheets flowing, but 
not so loosely that they can get entangled or get 
foul of the rigging. Heave on the cable ; when it 
is straight up and down flatten in the weather jib- 
sheet and lash the helm to windward with a line. 



GETTING UNDER WAY 129 

Run forward and get the anchor a-trip and on deck 
as quickly as you are able. Then let draw the jib- 
sheets, cast off the tiller-line, and sail away. You 
can get your foresail up as soon as you are clear 
of other vessels. 

If your vessel is riding to tide and wind, and it 
is blowing hard, hoist no canvas before heaving on 
the cable, for the pressure of the wind upon the sails 
would cause the anchor to drag. Just as the anchor 
is leaving the ground put the helm over to cant the 
vessel, and hoist the foresail and jib smartly. Hoist 
the mainsail when the vessel is under way. 

If the tide and wind be in opposite directions, 
and the vessel is riding to the tide with the wind 
astern, set jib, or jib and foresail, just as the anchor 
is leaving the ground ; you will then be running 
before the wind ; and if you wish to luff quickly 
have the mainsail up as smartly as you can. 

If the wind and tide be in opposite directions, 
and the wind be so strong that it masters the tide, 
the vessel riding to the wind with the tide coming 
up astern, the effect of the rudder will be reversed, 
so that to cant the vessel's head to port the helm 
must be put to port, instead of to starboard, as 
would be the case if the vessel had headway. 

It sometimes happens, when one is anchored in a 
crowded narrow place with a strong tide running 
and but a light breeze blowing, that one cannot get 
under way in the ordinary manner without running 
a great risk of drifting foul of vessels anchored 

I 



130 SEAMANSHIP 

close astern. The following method (which is called 
dredging) can then be employed with advantage, 
more especially if the bottom be of mud. The cable 
is hove short. One hand goes forward and keeps 
the vessel dragging slowly astern by taking chain 
in until the anchor is almost off the ground, while 
he stands by ready to give her back a little chain 
should she begin to drag too fast. The tide, running 
under the vessel at a faster rate than she is dragging, 
gives steerage way and enables the helmsman to 
steer his craft so as to avoid the anchored vessels, 
as he drifts down-stream stern on. As soon as the 
vessel gets into more open water, the anchor is got 
up and the sails are hoisted. 

A similar plan is that employed by the Norfolk 
wherrymen when dropping down the narrow rapid 
river at Yarmouth with their sails furled. They 
trail a long chain (having no anchor on it) from 
their bows, over the muddy bottom, thus retarding 
their progress and providing the steerage way 
needed to keep them clear of obstacles and shoot 
the bridges. 

A vessel moored to a buoy is easier to get under 
way than one lying at anchor, as she is under more 
complete control, and there is no dragging of the 
anchor to be feared. One can wait till she is canted 
in the right direction before slipping from the moor- 
ings ; and by bringing the mooring-rope to one side 
or other of the vessel, one can ensure her casting 
off on the required tack. Thus if one wishes to cast 



SAILING BY THE WIND 131 

off on the port tack, the mooring-rope is brought to 
the port-side and is made fast close to the main 
rigging; this turns the vessel's head to starboard. 
The sails are then hoisted ; it takes a second to slip 
the moorings, and away the vessel shoots with all 
her sails full. 

Until the anchor is well out of the water do not 
get much way on the vessel, but heave to, if you 
have plenty of sea- room ; for otherwise the anchor 
may be driven back by the pressure of the water, 
and get foul of the stem or bobstay. 

Having got the vessel under way, I will now 
describe some of the principal manoeuvres which 
have to be executed in the course of a sail. We 
will suppose that all plain canvas has been set, and 
that the vessel is sailing full and bye — that is, as 
near the wind as she can go, while yet keeping her 
sails full. Nothing is gained by jamming a boat 
too close to the wind, with her sails all on the 
shake ; for though she may be pointing more 
directly towards her destination, her speed will be 
greatly diminished, especially if there is any sea on. 

To sail a vessel on a wind so as to get the most 
out of her is an art not to be acquired without 
much patient practice and observation. At first, 
the tyro will find it a wearisome business to take 
his trick at the tiller when a vessel is close-hauled. 
He will ever be anxiously on the watch lest he bear 
away or luff up too much ; and yet, despite all his 
care, he will be disgusted to find that at one moment 



132 SEAMANSHIP 

all his sails are flapping and the vessel loses her 
way, and that at the next moment he has brought 
the wind almost abeam and is sailing away to 
leeward. He has a tendency to push his helm hard 
up and hard down alternately, thus correcting one 
error with such violence that he at once falls into 
the opposite error. 

Steering becomes in time a second instinct, and 
cannot be taught in books ; but the following hints 
may prove useful to the novice. When steering, 
stand or sit on the weather-side of the deck. The 
angle at which the burgee at the masthead is 
blowing out will show you whether you are too 
much off the wind when sailing close-hauled. If 
you are sailing too near the wind the shaking of 
the sail will warn you. When you see the luff of 
the jib and mainsail just lifting slightly, you are 
sailing as near the wind as you should be. The 
novice therefore, when steering full and bye, should 
always have his eyes on the sails and the burgee. 
But when practice has made him an experienced 
helmsman he will need no such guides ; the feel of 
the tiller will then tell him whether he is steering 
rightly, and with a sensitive hand he will hold the 
helm at exactly the right angle to keep her on her 
course, moving it but very slightly — almost imper- 
ceptibly — now and again, instead of ever passing it 
backwards and forwards from hard up to hard down, 
as he used to do in the early days of his novitiate. 

The best of all guides is the feel of the wind on 



TACKING 133 

one's face, which indicates whether one is steering 
full and bye or yawing about. It is astonishing 
with what nicety a sailor can distinguish the direc- 
tion of even a very light wind in this way. On a 
dark night when he is steering full and bye, and 
not by compass, this is the only possible guide to 
the helmsman ; so, too, if the vessel is running 
before the wind, he can feel by the chill on his 
neck or ear if he is sailing by the lee or luffing up. 

When sailing full and bye it is important that the 
sails should be properly trimmed ; they should not 
be sheeted so flat that the vessel becomes sluggish, 
and they must all be sheeted as nearly as possible 
at the right angle, so that one sail will not lift long 
before the other when the vessel comes up into the 
wind. It is a common fault to flatten in the jib- 
sheet too much, by which the sail's effect is wasted, 
and it tends more to drive the vessel to leeward 
than to propel her. If the mainsail is seen to lift 
before the jib, slacken up the jib-sheet a bit. 

TO TACK 

When the wind is so much ahead that one cannot 
steer directly for one's destination, even when close- 
hauled, the vessel has to be tacked. The theory of 
tacking has been dealt with in a previous chapter ; 
the practice will now be explained. 

If two or more hands are available for the opera- 
tion, the following is the procedure : — The man at 
the helm selects his opportunity, and if it be heavy 



134 SEAMANSHIP 

weather he awaits a smooth ; for a vessel is liable to 
miss stays if struck by a sea before she has come up 
into the wind ; then, having decided to put the 
vessel about, he sings out 'ready about,' when 
the hands will stand by ready to handle the sheet. 
If necessary, he should keep the vessel a point or so 
more off the wind for a short time, before he gives 
the next order, so as to get plenty of way on her. 
The next order will be 'helm's a-lee/ and as he 
gives it he puts the tiller down to leeward gently, 
and only about half-way over, thus allowing the 
vessel to shoot well ahead while in stays. When 
she is in the wind's eye he gives her some more 
helm to help her pay off on the other tack. 

In the meanwhile, the hands at the sheets have 
been doing their duty. As the vessel comes up 
into the wind they slack up the jib and fore-sheets ; 
and when the vessel has passed the head-to-wind 
position, they haul the sheets in on the other side, 
which now becomes the lee-side ; but they must not 
do this too soon, else the head sails will act as back 
sails, prevent the vessel from paying off, and cause 
her to miss stays. The jib-sheet, for example, 
should not be hauled over until the jib has blown 
clear of the fore-stay ; but it should then be got in 
and belayed very smartly, before the vessel is filling 
on the other tack, else the strain will be so great 
that it will be difficult to get it in at all. If the 
vessel is sluggish in stays, or if there be a lumpy sea, 
the fore-sheet should not be let go with the jib- 



'IN IRONS* 135 

sheet, but it should be left belayed until the vessel 
fills on the other tack. The foresail, thus taken 
aback, helps the vessel's head to pay off; but the 
vessel's way is of course stopped to some extent by 
this, and the foresail must not be kept to windward 
a moment longer than is necessary. In order to go 
about smartly it is well to flatten in the main-sheet 
until the vessel is in the wind's eye, and then to 
slack it off again as her head pays off on the other 
tack. 

If one is sailing single-handed, the mainsail must 
be left to take care of itself during the process of 
tacking ; the jib must be allowed to pass over and 
its sheet must be belayed on the new tack before 
the fore-sheets are touched. 

If, in consequence of the helm having been put 
down too fast, or the head-sheets having been hauled 
in too soon, the vessel misses stays, she is left 
*in irons,' that is, she lies helplessly head to wind, 
refusing to fill on either tack, her sails all shaking, 
her head-way lost, and she soon begins to gather 
stern-way. In order to get her under way again 
(say, on the port tack) haul the head-sheets to wind- 
ward, that is, to the port-side, and slack off the 
main-sheet. This will cause her head to pay off to 
starboard, then the sails can be trimmed and she 
will go ahead again. So long as she has stern-way, 
remember that the action of the rudder is reversed, 
that is, the tiller must be put over to starboard in 
order to pay the vessel's head off to starboard. 



136 SEAMANSHIP 



TO RUN BEFORE THE WIND 

When a vessel is running before the wind all 
sheets are eased off, the main-sheet more so than 
the others, so that the mainsail is almost squared to 
the wind. The runners, preventer backstays, and 
boom topping-lifts are belayed on the weather-side 
and slacked off on the lee-side. 

When running, do not steer a vessel so that she is 
*by the lee,' unless it be necessary to do so in order 
to avoid collision with another vessel, or for some 
other such good reason. A vessel is by the lee 
when she bears away so much that the wind comes 
from the quarter over which the boom is squared. 
She is then very near the point which would bring 
the wind to the back of the sails and cause a jibe. 
A jibe thus brought about is always more or less 
dangerous, and may even capsize a vessel. Serious 
damage is likely to attend an accidental jibe if it is 
blowing hard ; the boom swinging over with great 
violence from one quarter to the other will carry all 
before it on its way — runners, preventer backstays, 
and topmast ; and it will probably be sprung by 
the sudden jerk with which it is brought up by 
the main-sheet. The head-sails always give timely 
warning that one is sailing by the lee ; for the wind 
gets behind them and bellies them out from the 
other side before the mainsail is in any danger of 
jibing. 



JIBING 137 

JIBING 

When it becomes necessary to jibe a vessel, 
proper precautions have to be taken. Before pre- 
paring for a jibe, steer so that the wind is not 
quite aft, but on the quarter opposite to that over 
which the boom is squared. Haul in on the main- 
sheet till the boom is half-way in. Then put the 
helm slowly up to bring the vessel round, and con- 
tinue hauling on the main-sheet till the boom is 
amidships. Before the vessel is by the lee, slack off 
the weather-runners (and weather-preventing back- 
stays, if these be standing) and set taut the lee- 
runners, which will become the weather-runners 
when the jibe has been effected. As the wind 
strikes the mainsail on the opposite side, slack off 
the mainsheet so as to break the jerk and allow 
the boom to pass over easily to the other quarter. 
A vessel is apt to run up into the wind as she jibes, 
so the helm must be put up to meet her. Then 
sheet the headsails on what has now become the 
lee side. 

If the wind is strong it is well to scandalise the 
mainsail — trice up the main tack and lower the 
peak — before jibing. 

When running before a heavy sea s, vessel is apt 
to yaw about a good deal, and therefore exceptional 
care must be taken to avoid an accidental jibe. 
The prudent plan under these circumstances is not 
':o steer dead before the wind, but to sail for some 

I * 



138 SEAMANSHIP 

distance with the wind on one quarter, and then to 
jibe and sail with the wind on the other quarter. 

A vessel is said to be HOVE-TO when she is made 
to remain stationary, by getting some of her head 
sails aback. To heave a cutter to, lufif her up till 
she is close-hauled, haul the fore-sheet to windward, 
and haul on the jibsheet until the corner of the 
jib is over the forestay. If the main-sheet is now 
trimmed properly — experiment will quickly show 
how much it should be flattened in — the headsails 
and the mainsail will balance each other, the former 
causing the vessel's head to pay off, the latter 
driving her up into the wind, with the result that 
the vessel will remain floating head to wind, making 
no headway, and the tiller can be lashed amidships. 

When sailing single-handed, provided you have 
sufficient sea room, heave the vessel to before under- 
taking to reef, shift jibs, etc. You can then leave 
the tiller and do the work at your leisure, while the 
vessel takes care of herself 

When hove-to under snug canvas, even a small 
fore-and-after will often ride quite comfortably and 
safely through very heavy weather. To ride out a 
gale a cutter is generally hove-to under trysail and 
storm-jib, the foresail being stowed. 

To get under way when hove-to, hoist the foresail 
if it is down, slack up the main-sheet, and when the 
vessel has paid well off trim the sheets. 

When shifting sails and reefing, care must be 
taken to preserve the balance between the head and 



THE BALANCE OF SAILS 139 

the after-sails, so that the vessel remains in good 
sailing trim, having a decided tendency to come 
up into the wind, while yet not carrying excessive 
weather helm. Thus if a large jib be changed for 
a small one, and the foresail be reefed, while the 
mainsail is left standing, the vessel will gripe and 
the tiller will have to be put hard down to keep her 
off the wind, the rudder being at such an angle as 
to seriously retard the vessel's speed. On the other 
hand, if the mainsail be reefed while the whole fore- 
sail and the big jib are left on her, the vessel will 
probably carry a lee helm, which, as has already 
been explained, no yacht should under any circum- 
stances be allowed to do ; among other reasons, 
because, when in that dangerous trim, she will be 
pinned down and possibly be capsized by a squall 
instead of luffing up into it. 

A whole mainsail and a whole foresail can be 
carried after the first jib has been exchanged for 
the second, without materially increasing a vessel's 
weather-helm ; but on most yachts whenever the 
foresail is reefed the mainsail should be reefed also. 
Thus in a fresh breeze a cutter will generally be 
seen sailing under single-reefed mainsail, single- 
reefed foresail, and third jib. In a heavy gale it 
is usual to stow the foresail, and to sail under 
trysail and storm-jib. 

When setting a smaller jib reef the bowsprit, for 
a small jib hauled half way along a bowsprit strains 
the spar, which at that point is not supported by 



HO SEAMANSHIP 

the shrouds and bobstay ; moreover a vessel is 
greatly relieved by getting the weight of the bow- 
sprit more inboard. 

That a vessel should be in good trim is of especial 
importance when she is beating to windward against 
a heavy sea. It is essential then that her canvas 
should not only be well-balanced, but that it should 
be sufficiently reduced, so that she can be sailed 
ramping full, and be ever kept well under control ; 
whereas if too much sail is carried she will have to 
be luffed up into every strong puff, when the seas 
will quickly deaden her way, and she will plunge 
and tumble about uneasily in the hollows between 
the waves, and probably get in irons. When an 
exceptionally big sea is seen rolling up, the vessel 
must be luffed up into it, so as to meet it end on, 
but as soon as it has passed one must bear away 
again and fill the sails. Unless one has been sailing 
full and keeping good way on her, one cannot per- 
form this manoeuvre properly, and with an over- 
canvassed craft that has to be luffed up to puffs of 
wind as well as to seas, one will progress but slowly, 
and will make very bad weather of it. 

When running before a heavy sea, the vessel, 
especially if she be a short beamy one, will exhibit 
a tendency to yaw about, and will require most care- 
ful steering. Now is the occasion for the helmsman 
to show his skill. With the novice at the helm the 
vessel will steer in the wildest fashion, now shooting 
up into the wind, now bearing right away till there 



RUNNING IN A SEAWAY 141 

is danger of a jibe, and the tiller will be kept ever 
hard at it travelling backwards and forwards from 
one quarter to the other. But the experienced man 
will keep his helm steady, and the vessel's yawing 
will be slight ; for the art of steering does not con- 
sist of violently forcing the tiller up and down to 
correct a vessel's deviation from her course after it 
has occurred, but in anticipating her movements 
with a gentle pressure of the tiller before she begins 
to fall off or come up. The helmsman feels that he 
is between Scylla and Carybdis when running before 
a heavy sea, and he needs all his nerve. For on the 
one hand he has to avoid an accidental jibe, and on 
the other hand, whenever a dangerously big and 
steep sea rolls up, he must so steer that the vessel 
is dead before it ; for if it strikes her on the weather 
quarter it may cause her to broach to, that is, fly up 
into the wind till she is broadside on to the sea, a 
most dangerous position, in which she is in great 
risk of being swamped or rolled over by the next 
big wave. 

Always carry a jib when running before the wind, 
it will help to pay the vessel off if she attempts to 
broach to. One can carry more canvas when before 
the wind than when sailing close-hauled : but if too 
much sail is carried the vessel will roll heavily. Do 
not crack on canvas under the impression that it 
will enable you to run away from the following seas 
and so avoid the risk of being pooped. No vessel 
can run as fast as that. 



142 SEAMANSHIP 

A cruising yacht should carry a storm squaresail 
made to hoist under the forestay, so as to be high 
enough to catch the wind when the vessel is in the 
trough of the sea. Under such a sail a yacht will 
run before a heavy sea with much diminished chance 
of broaching to or jibing. A cutter running before 
a strong wind will not roll nearly so heavily and can 
be steered with far greater ease if a small spinnaker 
be set on the other side to balance the mainsail. I 
have often set such a spinnaker by the side of a 
reefed mainsail when cruising in the South Atlantic, 
with great advantage : and whenever I had to run 
before a strong wind on my little three-tonner during 
her cruise on the almost always choppy Baltic I 
invariably had my mainsail boomed out on one side 
and a small boat's standing-lug on the other side. 
As soon as the latter sail was hoisted there was a 
remarkable gain both in speed and comfort. 

If one runs too long before a gale the sea may 
get so high that it becomes exceedingly dangerous, 
if not impossible, to bring the vessel up in the wind 
and heave her to. Always heave-to in good time, if 
you have plenty of sea room and no port to run for. 
Wait for the smooth, which generally follows two 
or three exceptionally high waves, before bringing 
the vessel to : for the perilous moment will be when 
she is being brought broadside on to the sea. It 
is astonishing with what safety and comfort a fore- 
and-after will ride out a gale, rising easily to every 
steep wave, and taking but little water on board. 



DANGER OF POOPING 143 

Run too long and you will have an anxious time 
of it as I had once off the River Plate on my yawl 
the Falcon. A gale had sprung up, and as it was 
favourable for us, bound as we were for Bahia, I 
imprudently determined to make use of it instead of 
heaving to, and ran before it under trysail and storm 
jib. But it proved to be more than an ordinary 
gale and developed into a three-days Pampero — the 
hurricane wind of those latitudes. Very shortly 
so high a sea was running that I did not dare 
attempt to heave her to ; so on we scudded for 
three days and nights, steering for our lives, and 
having a very bad time of it. On the second day 
we had a very narrow escape, for we were pooped 
by a gigantic wave and ^ were in great danger of 
foundering. The following passage from my narra- 
tive of that cruise may serve as a warning to those 
who would run on when they had much better 
heave-to. 

' It is generally observed that during a prolonged 
gale two or four rollers, far higher than any others, 
occur at long intervals, say of twelve hours, and 
it is no doubt, as a rule, one of such exceptionally 
lofty and breaking seas that overwhelms a vessel 
and causes her to founder. At four o'clock on this 
particular afternoon two such billows came right 
astern. I was steering at the time, and looking 
over my shoulder I perceived a huge wave of green 
water, with an ugly, over-curling, breaking crest, 
rapidly overtaking us. It seemed that it must of a 



144 SEAMANSHIP 

certainty fall on us, and that it was quite impossible 
for the Falcon to rise to such a steep wall of water ; 
that she would be rolled over and over by it certainly 
seemed probable to me at that moment. ^ I only 
took a second's glance, jammed myself firmly inside 
the tiller rope, and steered so that the wave should 
strike us dead aft. Suddenly up went our stern 
with a jerk that jumped me off my feet, a few 
bucketfuls of water tumbled on board ; then up flew 
our bow till our deck was at an angle of 45°. The 
roller had passed us ; it had struck us so true that 
we remained on an even keel without the slightest 
list to port or starboard. But the peril was far from 
over yet; another equally lofty roller followed 
close ; and between the two was a valley so narrow 
and steep that it was impossible that the Falcon 
after her descent could raise her stern in time 
to meet this second wall of water. After a glance 
over my shoulder, which sufficed me to take in 
the danger of the situation, I turned my back on 
the roller again, and kept the vessel dead before 
it. We slid down the slope of the liquid valley, 
then our stern commenced to rise a little as the 
foot of the second wave reached us, and then 
there was a crash and a sudden darkness, and 
I felt a mass of water rush right over my head. 
" It is all up with us," I thought — that is, if I thought 
at all, for all this had occupied but a few seconds ; I 
think, however, all on board imagined that we had 
foundered ; doubtlessly to any one looking from 



NARROW ESCAPE 145 

above, the masts of the vessel would at that moment 
alone have been visible, the whole hull must have 
been submerged. But the Falcon was strong, the 
mass of water had not broken through her decks : 
just as she had met the first wave she met this, not 
in the least on one quarter or the other, so we 
escaped broaching-to, a probable occurrence in the 
presence of such monster waves, and one that would 
of course have ensured our loss. In another second, 
as I opened my eyes after the stunning effect of the 
deluge of water, I saw the bulwarks rise above the 
sea, then the little vessel gave herself a sort of shake 
of relief and the water soon poured out through her 
scuppers, this being facilitated by the comparatively 
calm sea that always succeeds to exceptionally high 
waves. The cook, I observed, had held on tightly, 
and had not been washed overboard. Then the 
companion-hatch slid back and my two other Italian 
hands came up, with faces pallid ; when they heard 
the shock of the mass of water on deck, they fancied 
that they distinctly felt the vessel going down, and 
were sure she was foundering. They said that after 
the first shock it suddenly became quite dark in the 
cabin and all was silent, while little jets of water 
were spurting in, as if under great pressure, through 
every little leak between the planks of the deck 
above them.' 

When sailing with the wind abeam, the sheets are 
eased off so that the sails just fill and draw well, 
without shaking at the luff. If a steep sea rolls up, 

K 



146 SEAMANSHIP 

lufF up to it a bit, so as to shoulder it — that is, take 
it on the weather bow and not broadside on. Do 
not carry too much canvas when sailing with the 
wind abeam. 

If a really heavy sea is running do not venture to 
sail with the wind abeam ; sail close-hauled or run 
for it according to circumstances — or do each in 
turn if by that course you can best reach your 
destination. 

If sailing with the sea on the quarter, bear away 
before the more dangerous seas, so as not to run the 
risk of broaching-to. 

To Come to an Anchorage, or to Pick up 
Moorings in a crowded roadstead is a matter re- 
quiring great skill and judgment ; and the novice 
will probably find this the most difficult to master of 
all the manoeuvres he has to execute while sailing 
his yacht. 

Before getting to your anchorage haul up from 
below and range on deck a length of cable equal to, 
or slightly greater than, the depth of the water in 
which you intend to let go your anchor. Steer to 
windward of the spot where you wish to bring up. 
When near it lower the head sails, flatten in the 
main sheet, and bring the vessel up into the wind's 
eye, sharply, or with a long sweep, according to the 
circumstances. When she has lost all her way and 
begins to drop astern, let go the anchor. The 
length of the sweep one should make when coming 
up depends on the set and strength of the tide, the 



BRINGING UP 147 

qualities of the vessel (a deep boat will shoot much 
further than a shallow one before losing her way), 
and so forth ; and practice only can enable the 
novice to calculate with nicety what should be done. 
If wind and tide are in the same direction one 
must of course lower the headsails and luff up 
into the wind sooner than if the wind and tide are 
opposed. 

If the wind and tide are opposed, the easiest and 
safest method of coming to one's anchorage is to run 
dead before the wind up to it instead of luffing. 
Reduce the canvas gradually according to the 
strength of the wind, until the vessel remains station- 
ary over the right spot, the wind and tide just 
counteracting each other ; then let go. To give an 
example of this manoeuvre, let us suppose that the 
mainsail has been lowered and that the vessel is still 
making good way under foresail and jib. The jib is 
next lowered, when the vessel is found to be pro- 
gressing very slowly. As soon as she has reached 
her anchorage the foresail is hauled down, the tide 
at once gets the mastery and brings the vessel to a 
standstill, and she begins to go astern ; then the 
anchor is let go. 

If, instead of coming to an anchor, moorings have 
to be picked up, still greater accuracy must be em- 
ployed in making one's calculations and executing 
the manoeuvre, else the moorings may be missed 
altogether. A hand must be stationed in the bows 
with a boathook, ready to hook up the mooring-buoy 



148 SEAMANSHIP 

as soon as he can reach it, and to belay the mooring 
rope smartly. To miss one's moorings by shooting 
past them or short of them in a crowded anchorage 
may place one in an awkward position ; for the 
vessel will then drift helplessly away, and is 
likely to fall foul of neighbouring craft before 
she can be got under control. If you fail to 
pick up your moorings after luffing up to them 
under the mainsail, hoist the foresail smartly and 
ease off the main-sheet so as to get the vessel 
under control as quickly as possible. But when 
tide meets wind, moorings can be picked up, 
without any risk, in the manner described above, 
by running up to them instead of luffing. The 
buoy is then easily secured ; and even if the hand 
with the boathook bungle the business, the foresail 
can be hoisted in a moment and the vessel gathers 
way again. When approaching one's moorings it is 
prudent to have a kedge or small anchor ready to 
let go in case of accidents. 

When anchoring, do not pay chain out too fast, 
as it will fall on the top of the anchor, and possibly 
take a turn round the fluke, in which case the 
anchor will drag out of the ground as soon as a 
strain is put upon it. Having let the chain which 
has been ranged on deck run out, wait till the 
vessel goes astern and the chain tautens before 
giving her more ; then do so gradually until she 
has enough to hold her — about three times the 
depth of the water suffices as a rule ; but more 



MOORING A YACHT 149 

will be required if the holding ground is bad or if 
it is blowing hard. 

Having come to an anchor or picked up your 
moorings, lower the main-boom on its crutch and 
stow the sails neatly. Put their coats on the main- 
sail and foresail, if these sails are dry ; if they are 
damp furl them loosely and hoist and dry them as 
soon as you have a chance. On no account put the 
sail coats on wet sails, as to do this will infallibly 
produce mildew. Slack off the clew of the mainsail 
before stowing it, for by keeping the clew constantly 
hauled out taut along the boom (a common fault), 
you will pull the foot of the sail all out of shape. 
Belay all halyards, sheets, backstays, etc., neatly, 
but not too taut if they ^re dry ; remember that a 
shower of rain will cause all your hemp rope to 
shrink considerably, and then an over-taut preventer 
backstay, for example, may put such a strain upon 
the topmast as to break it. Slack up the bobstay 
tackle and haul the bobstay up to the stem, so that 
it may be clear of the chain. 

If it be blowing hard, or the holding ground be 
bad, or if for some other reason it isV uncertain 
whether your single anchor will hold the vessel, 
Moor her, that is, ride to two anchors placed at 
some distance apart, so that the two cables form an 
angle. To moor, let go on one anchor and veer out 
twice as much cable as you intend to ride by. When 
the cable is taut let go the second anchor. Heave 
in on the first cable and veer out the second until 



ISO SEAMANSHIP 

the same length of cable is out on both anchors. 
It is sometimes more convenient to take the second 
anchor out in a boat to the place where it has to be 
let go. 

To unmoor, veer out chain to one anchor while 
getting the other anchor up. Then weigh the second 
anchor. 

When lying at anchor in windless weather, the 
vessel is apt to float right over her anchor at slack 




Fig. 65. 

water, just before the turn of the tide. The cable is 
then likely to take a turn round the upper fluke of 
the anchor, so that, when a strain is put upon it, it 
will pull the other fluke out of the ground and so 
cause the anchor to drag. To obviate this heave the 
cable short at slack water and let it go again when 
the vessel swings to the tide. 

If one is anchored on rocky ground the anchor is 
apt to get foul, and may have to be abandoned unless 
one has adopted one of the two following methods 



SCOWING AN ANCHOR 151 

for insuring its recovery. Before letting go the 
anchor fasten the end of a small line to the crown 
of it, and buoy the other end. If the anchor has got 
hold of a rock and refuses to come up when the 
cable is hauled upon, it can be liberated by hauling 
on the tripping line. 

If the anchorage is to be but a temporary one the 
same end can be attained by bending the cable on 
to the crown of the anchor, instead of to the shackle 
or ring, and by stopping the cable along the shank 
or to the shackle with twine, as shown in Fig. 65. 
If the anchor is foul the stopping will break when 
the cable is hauled upon, and the anchor, being then 
pulled crown first, will get free. Remember that 
there is always a chance, 'when this method is em- 
ployed, of the stopping accidently breaking while 
the vessel lies at anchor ; in which case the anchor 
will of course drag. This plan therefore will not do 
if you wish to turn in for the night and sleep in 
security. 

The terms employed in describing the different 
parts of an anchor will be understood by referring 
to Fig. 65 — a a is the shank ; b b are the arms 
terminating in the barbed flukes \ ccd \?, the stocky 
which is at right angles to the arms; e is the 
crown. 

In heavy weather a vessel is greatly relieved by 
lowering the mainsail and hoisting the trysail in its 
place. The mainsail must be well stowed, and 
the boom must be securely lashed amidships. The 



152 SEAMANSHIP 

throat and peak halyards must be taken off the main 
gaff to be hooked on to the trysail gaff. The top- 
ping lifts must be unhooked and be fastened in the 
main rigging — so too must be the peak-halyards if 
the trysail is jib-headed and is therefore hoisted with 
the throat halyards only. 

If a small vessel be overtaken by such heavy 
weather, when she is on the open sea, that she is in 
danger, even when hove-to under her storm canvas, 
a Drogue or Floating Anchor can be put out, a 
contrivance which has enabled even small open boats 
to ride out the heaviest gales with safety. A drogue 
generally consists of a framework of iron or wood, 
with strong canvas stretched across it, so as to offer 
great resistance to the water when dragged through 
it broadside on. I carried a drogue with me on the 
Falcon during her South Atlantic cruise, but never 
had occasion to use it save in the shark-infested 
anchorage off the desert island of Trinidad, where 1 
hung it overboard each morning and had my bath in 
it, without risk of being snapped up by one of the 
voracious monsters ever on the watch around us. 
This drogue (Fig. 66), was thus fashioned : — A conical 
bag of stout canvas, about five feet in diameter, was 
bent on to an iron ring, which was attached to the 
hawser by a bridle ; a tripping line of light rope was 
also fastened to the pointed end of the drogue, by 
means of which it could be capsized and relieved of 
the pressure of the water before being hauled on 
board. 



FLOATING ANCHOR 



153 



A vessel riding to her drogue with some forty 
fathoms of hawser out (grass rope which floats on 
the water is perhaps the best), as she drags astern 




Fig. 66. 



is ever kept head to wind and sea, and cannot well 
pay off or get broadside on to the waves as they 
roll by her. 

If no drogue is carried on board, a very effective 




Fig. 67. 

one can be extemporised by bending one side of a 
small jib or other sail to a spar and riding to that 
(Fig. 6y). The hawser must be attached to the 

K * 



154 SEAMANSHIP 

middle of a rope about twice the length of the spar, 
the rope being made fast at either end to the ex- 
tremities of the spar, thus forming a span, and 
keeping the spar broadside on to the seas. A bit 
of ballast should be attached to the lower corner of 
the sail in order to sink it and keep it in a vertical 
position, so that it may offer the greatest resistance 
to the water. The spar to some extent serves as a 
breakwater as well as a floating anchor, and prevents 
the seas from breaking near the vessel. 

When riding to a drogue it will be well, unless the 
gale be very heavy, to have a reefed mizzen set if 
the vessel be a yawl, and a reefed trysail if she be 
a cutter; in either case the sail must be sheeted 
amidships. 

If running for a bar harbour with the wind on 
shore and the sea breaking heavily on the bar, a 
small drogue can be towed astern with great ad- 
vantage, as it will prevent the sea from driving the 
vessel's stern round and broaching her to. 

A drogue which appears to be very well suited for 
small craft is now manufactured by R. C. Lacey, 75 
Summerly Street. A copper oil distributor can be 
attached at pleasure. 

The extraordinary effect of pouring oil upon the 
troubled waters has been fully demonstrated by a 
series of experiments that have been recently con- 
ducted in stormy weather at the entrance of some 
of our bar harbours; and even large vessels have 
been saved from destruction by the use of a few 



OIL ON WATER 155 

gallons of oil. It needs but very little oil to form a 
coat over a large expanse of water; and where the 
oil is the sea will roll smoothly, the waves will either 
break at the weather edge of the oil or pass harm- 
lessly across it in gentle undulations. When a 
vessel is hove-to, the oil bag is hung over the weather 
bow and the oil, oozing out slowly, leaves a smooth 
space to windward. If the drogue is out, an oil 
bag can be secured to that. When running before 
the wind an oil bag is hung over the stern or 
quarter. 

Some years ago a North Sea fisherman, with 
whom I was cruising on the Doggerbank, gave me 
his experience of the use of oil in a gale. It was on 
the edge of the Dogger, jn five fathom soundings 
where the seas break heavily. The fleet was running 
before the wind, when he and some other skippers 
bethought them to try the effect of oil. The result 
was magical, and their vessels at once began to 
make good weather of it. But he told me that some 
other vessels following them had to pass through 
seas breaking heavily on the weather edge of the 
oily expanse, and had a very uncomfortable time of 
it. In his opinion when the seas do break thus 
on approaching the oil, they do so in a more 
dangerous fashion than if no oil was there; which 
seems likely enough. To judge from all the evi- 
dence that has been collected on the subject, there 
can be little doubt that, given plenty of sea room, 
even quite a small yacht — provided of course that 



156 



SEAMANSHIP 



she be sound, not over sparred, and of the right 
build — can ride out an Atlantic gale in safety by 
employing drogue and oil bag ; and no one should 
attempt a long cruise on broad seas with such a 
vessel without carrying these. 




Undek Storm Trysail. 



CHAPTER VIII 

OPEN BOAT SAILING 

Shifting ballast — Sailing in rough water — Management of open boats 
— Beaching through a surf — Hints on river sailing — "Working the 
currents — Sailing under bridges. 

In many respects the management of the open boat 
under canvas differs considerably from that of the 
decked yacht. An open boat is more easily capsized 
and swamped ; her movements are more sudden ; 
every manoeuvre has to be performed with greater 
rapidity than on the larger craft. He who attempts 
to sail her as he would a decked and deep-keeled 
yacht is pretty certain to come to grief sooner or 
later. The open boat sailor must never forget 
what a tricky and dangerous craft he has under 
him, and must never relax his care and watchful- 
ness. 

It is not only because a boat is open, and would 
therefore fill if she were sailed gunwhale under 
like a yacht, that she is more dangerous than the 
latter. Being of shallow draught, with no ballast 
outside, she has little stability, and once blown over 
beyond a certain angle cannot recover herself and 



158 OPEN BOAT SAILING 

must capsize. Thus if you carry too much canvas 
in a choppy sea a little lop that a yacht would 
pay no attention to may lift up the side of the open 
boat till she attains the danger angle, when the 
wind pressing on the sail will complete the mischief, 
and the next moment she will be bottom up. It 
has been pointed out in a previous chapter that 
ballast lying in the bottom of a shallow boat does 
not materially increase her stability, whereas the 
recovering power of a deep vessel is greater the 
more she heels over, so that she is practically un- 
capsizable. 

An open boat should carry no more ballast than 
is absolutely necessary, and what there is should be 
kept amidships, so that both bow and stern are 
buoyant and rise successively to the passing seas. 
Except when an open boat is being raced by an 
experienced crew, it is highly imprudent to stiffen 
her by shifting ballast to windward or by making 
her passengers sit on the weather gunwhale ; as a 
sudden lull or change in the direction of the wind, 
or the roll caused by a passing beam sea may result 
in her suddenly capsizing to windward. But under 
certain circumstances it may be prudent to shift 
ballast fore or aft. Thus, if one is compelled to run 
before a dangerously heavy sea, the tendency to 
broach-to can be diminished by moving some of the 
ballast aft ; on the other hand, when one is pulling 
against the sea it is often advisable to move the 
ballast forward, for this gives the boat a better grip 



WATER BALLAST 159 

of the water, and renders her less likely to be 
knocked off her course by a wave. 

Though battens should be fastened to the floor 
of an open boat to prevent the ballast from slipping 
to leeward in a squall, the ballast, unless it consists 
of water-tanks, should not be so secured that it 
cannot fall overboard if the boat capsizes. The 
boat relieved of her ballast will float instead of 
sinking, and can be recovered ; moreover, the crew 
are enabled to cling to her until succour arrives. 
But even if the ballast be not secured, it will often 
remain in the swamped boat and drag her down. 
It is for this reason that water — as has been ex- 
plained in Chapter IV. — is the only form of ballast 
for an open boat that will render her absolutely 
unsinkable. 

Whereas in smooth water, a yacht, if not over- 
canvassed, can keep steadily on her course regard- 
less of the squalls, save that she leans gracefully 
to them and increases her speed, the open boat has 
frequently to be luffed up into the stronger puffs, 
or her sheets have to be eased off. If the boat 
have but a single sail, ease off the sheet smartly 
when luffing to a heavy squall. If she carry a 
foresail, ease off the foresheet first, and ease off the 
mainsheet only if the squall be of exceptional 
violence. With a main and mizzen-rigged boat 
the mizzen-sheet, as a rule, should not be let go 
in a squall. With a wind of given strength 
much less canvas should be carried in rough 



i6o OPEN BOAT SAILING 

than in smooth water. If there is much sea sail 
the boat under snug canvas, which she can carry 
without danger in the squalls ; for if a steep comber 
comes down on you and you have to luff up to it 
just at the moment that a heavy gust compels you 
to let go your sheets, you will lose all control over 
the boat ; her way will be lost, and she may be 
rolled over by the next wave. To sail safely across 
rough water, you should keep your eyes on the seas 
alone and steer so as best to ride over them, 
regardless of the squalls, having your sails ramping 
full ; this can only be done by reducing your canvas 
sufficiently. 

It is a good rule, when sailing a small boat, not 
to belay the sheets. Take a turn with the sheet 
round the after-thwart, or a pin or cleat, and 
hold the fall in the hand ; the sheet can then 
be let go in a moment. If two men are sailing 
the boat, the one steering can tend the main-sheet, 
while the other looks to the fore-sheet. Patent 
cleats have been invented for open boats, which 
automatically release the sheets so soon as the 
wind pressure on the sails and the consequent strain 
on the sheets exceed a certain limit and heel the 
boat towards the danger angle. But, if one must 
belay one's sheet, perhaps the safest and simplest 
method is the old-fashioned one represented in 
Fig. 6S. On either quarter of the boat an iron 
pin is fitted under the gunwale, allowing space for 
the sheet to pass between it and the boat's plank- 




SIMPLICITY IN RIGGING i6i 

ing. The sheet is taken round the pin and a bight 
is passed under the standing part of the sheet, 
which jams it so long as 
there is a strain upon the 
sheet. A pull upon the fall, 
which must be kept close to 
the hand, withdraws the bight 
and at once releases the sheet. 

The halyards also must be so belayed that they 
can be quickly let go ; therefore a half-hitch should 
not be taken on the top of the turns on the cleat. 
The halyards should always be properly coiled and 
capsized, ready to run out without risk of getting 
foul. If the sheet and halyard falls are lying 
about untidily in the bottom of the boat they will 
tie themselves into knots, and when let go will 
jam in the blocks and comb-cleats or get entangled 
with the feet of the crew — a frequent cause of 
capsizing and of loss of life even among good 
swimmers. Many sailing-boats and canoes appear 
to me to be supplied with a superfluity of ropes. 
Rapidity and ease in performing the manoeuvres 
may be gained by this, but the risks of the cordage 
getting entangled and jamming is much increased. 
In the eyes of some amateur sailors, to have as 
much rigging in a twelve-foot dinghy as would 
be carried on a twelve-ton yacht makes a brave 
show ; but, as a matter of fact, not a single rope 
that can be dispensed with should be allowed in 
the open boat. 

L 



i62 OPEN BOAT SAILING 

If a boat is intended for single-handed sailing it 
is well to have the halyards leading aft, so that 
one need not leave the tiller and go forward to 
lower the sail. The halyards, in this case, are led 
through blocks at the foot of the mast. These 
blocks should not be attached to the mast itself, 
but to the thwart through which the mast is 
stepped. 

It cannot be too much insisted upon that an open 
boat must not be treated as if she were a yacht. 
For example, one would never attempt to climb the 
mast in order to reeve a halyard or for any other 
purpose, more especially when the boat is under 
way. The sail should be lowered, and the mast 
should be unstepped. When sailing an open boat 
the helmsman sits on the weather-side ; but great 
risk is incurred by allowing the other hands — more 
especially if they are inexperienced — to do so. 
As a rule, therefore, passengers should be made to 
sit in the centre of the boat, and if there be much 
sea the bottom of the boat is the best place for 
them. 

One should always carry a lifebuoy when sailing 
a small boat. To do so on boats engaged in racing 
is made compulsory by the rules of the upper 
Thames sailing clubs. 

When a squall strikes a boat that has plenty of 
way on her, the increased wind pressure in her 
sails is chiefly exerted in propelling her faster 
through the water ; but if the boat is stationary. 



SEAMANSHIP 163 

nearly the whole force of the wind is at first spent 
in heeling her over, and she may capsize unless 
she gathers way quickly. Consequently, when 
sailing under the lee of a vessel, one should be 
ready to let go the sheets in a moment. For the 
boat will probably have the wind taken out of her 
sails when she is passing the vessel ; and the 
moment she has got clear of it, her steerage-way 
almost lost, the wind will suddenly give her a 
knock-down blow while she is in this helpless 
condition ; so that, unless one is ready to slack 
up sheets promptly, over the boat will go. 

Sail and mast should be lowered before coming 
alongside a vessel to board her. 

When running before jthe wind in rough water 
it is advisable not to bring the wind directly aft, 
as the boat's yawing may cause an accidental jibe. 
It is better to sail for some distance with the 
wind on one quarter, then to jibe and sail with 
the wind on the other quarter. 

A beam sea is of course the most dangerous. If 
compelled to sail with the sea abeam, bear away 
before the bigger seas. If the sea is very heavy 
it is best not to attempt to sail with the wind 
abeam. One can fetch one's destination by running 
before wind and sea for awhile, and then luffing 
up in a smooth and sailing close-hauled, and so on 
alternately. 

Jibe with great care, hauling the boom inboard as 
you put the helm up. Remember that when the 



i64 OPEN BOAT SAILING 

boom swings over, the force of the jibe will in a 
moment drive the boat up into the wind's eye unless 
you meet, or rather anticipate, this tendency with 
your helm. 

A boat carrying a single sail naturally has its 
mast stepped well forward ; consequently, if such a 
boat is in the wind's eye, in irons, and gathering 
stern-way, she can be made to pay off again by 
holding the boom over to windward and the tiller 
to leeward. When the boat has paid off sufficiently, 
she will rapidly gather way again if the sheet is 
trimmed to leeward and the sail is allowed to draw. 

It is often advisable, when running before a heavy 
sea, to unship the rudder and to steer with an oar. 
The open-boat sailor, by the way, should never 
leave his moorings without having his oars on 
board. It often happens that the novice is guilty 
of this omission, being too proud of his little 
craft to bear in mind that she is not a large yacht 
propelled by sails alone. 

Moveover, when shipping the oar-crutches, one 
must not forget to secure them to the gunwale 
with the lanyards which are attached to the ends 
of crutches for this purpose. If a crutch falls over- 
board at a critical moment disaster may ensue. If 
a crutch is lost and there is no spare one at hand, 
a rope grommet, or even a piece of cord fastened in 
a loop to the rowlocks, will serve the purpose 
temporarily, and enable one to employ the oars as 
before. 



NATIONAL LIFEBOAT RULES 165 

One oar, which should not be too long or heavy, 
should lie always within easy reach of the man 
sailing single-handed. With this he can pull the 
boat round if she misses stays, and steer her if the 
rudder carries away, or when running before a 
heavy sea. It is well to have a hollow cut into 
the transom to hold the oar, so that one can scull 
over the stern, a convenient method of propelling a 
boat when in a crowded harbour. 

In case a boat is driven out to sea in heavy 
weather, a deep-sea or floating anchor should be 
made with the spars, in the way described in 
Chapter VII. Small open boats have frequently 
ridden out Atlantic gales with safety in this fashion. 

Every one who goes open-boat sailing on an 
exposed coast should study the rules published by 
the National Lifeboat Institution with regard to 
the management of open boats in rough water, and 
the beaching of them through a surf. The follow- 
ing is a summary of these rules : — 

I. As a general rule speed must be given to a 
boat rowing seaward against a heavy surf; for 
otherwise a sea may carry her back with it, turn- 
ing her broadside on, or end-up, and so capsizing 
her. She should be given such way as to enable 
her to pass through the crest of the sea and leave 
it as soon as possible behind her. 

II. A boat running before a broken sea to the 
shore offers no resistance to it and is carried before 
it, thus running great danger of capsizing, either 



i66 OPEN BOAT SAILING 

by broaching to, or by running her bows under 
water. Her way should therefore be stopped on 
the approach of each dangerous sea that overtakes 
her, and this is effected in either of the three follow- 
ing ways : — I. By turning the boat's head to the 
sea before entering the broken water, and then 
backing in stern foremost, pulling a few strokes 
ahead to meet each heavy sea, and then again 
backing astern. 2. If rowing to shore with the 
stern to seaward, by backing the oars on the 
approach of a heavy sea, and rowing ahead again 
as soon as it has passed the bow of the boat. This 
is the best method if the boat is a long one with 
a pointed stern like a whale-boat. 3. If rowed in 
bow foremost, by towing astern a pig of ballast or 
large stone, or a drogue, so as to hold the boat's 
stern back. 

When running for the shore through a heavy sea 
a head-sail only should be used, and this should be 
reefed if it is large. It is usually safer to lower 
masts and sails and work the boat to shore with 
oars alone. 

Where a shore is flat the water breaks far out, 
the more dangerous breakers being in comparatively 
deep water ; and as one nears the land the danger 
lessens, the force of the sea gradually expending 
itself Consequently a boat, whether she be brought 
in stern or bow first, is kept straight before the sea 
until she grounds, when the crew jump out and 
haul her up the beach. 



LANDING IN A SURF 167 

But if the shore be steep, the sea does not break 
until it falls upon the beach, and one can approach 
close to before incurring any danger. To beach a 
boat on a steep shore she is run straight in, and 
at the last moment her bow is turned broadside on 
to the beach. She should then be hauled up as 
quickly as possible out of reach of the breakers. 

On some coasts washed by wide oceans the sea 
breaks heavily on the beach even in the calmest 
weather. If the surf be dangerous, one can wait 
just outside until a comparative smooth follows a 
succession of big waves, and then pull in at full 
speed. One can see this very cleverly done by the 
boatmen of Madeira when the steep green rollers 
thunder on its shingle beach. 

If a surf is breaking on a steep rocky shore and 
it is necessary to embark or to disembark passengers, 
this can be done without beaching the boat and 
thereby incurring the risk of staving her in. The 
anchor is let go just outside the surf, and the boat 
is backed in towards the shore with the oars, while 
a hand in the bows pays out the cable slowly, thus 
keeping the boat end on to the sea. When the 
boat's stern is near enough to the shore to allow of 
a man leaping off or on to the boat, the cable is 
made fast ; but the man in the bows must be in 
readiness to haul out again on the approach of a 
dangerous sea, giving her cable again when the 
moment is favourable. By this plan, if it is pro- 
perly worked, and provided the anchor holds and 



i68 OPEN BOAT SAILING 

the cable does not part, there is no chance of the 
boat striking the rocks. During this operation a 
line should be carried from the boat's stern to the 
shore, so as to prevent the boat from being turned 
broadside on by a retiring wave. By manipulating 
the cable and stern line, the boat can be easily 
hauled backwards and forwards between her anchor- 
age and the shore. 

There are occasions when even this method puts 
a boat to very great risk, so that in order to com- 
municate with the shore one has to adopt other 
means. Thus it happened with me when I was off 
the desert island of Trinidada, which is surrounded 
with sharp coral rocks on which breaks with fury 
an almost continuous surge, the rollers being some- 
times of extraordinary height. On one occasion 
communication between the yacht and the party 
on shore was interrupted for several weeks by the 
perilous breakers. It was rare, indeed, that we 
ventured to beach the boat; but sometimes, when 
the method I have above mentioned was impractic- 
able, a landing was effected without much risk as 
follows : — The yacht's boat was anchored outside the 
surf; a line was then carried by a good swimmer, 
or thrown on shore, and made fast to a rock. We 
used to jump into the water, one at a time of course, 
and travel backwards and forwards, hand over hand, 
along this line — sometimes with small bundles of 
baggage or stores tied on our heads ; and this with 
comparative ease, though the strong back undertow 



EXPERIENCE IN A SURF 169 

made it dangerous and difficult even for a powerful 
swimmer to attain the land. If a small craft is in 
danger on a surf-beaten coast, this is often the only 
method of safely getting her crew on shore, and 
there is little danger for the others if one man 
succeeds in getting to land with the end of the 
stern rope. But do not overload yourself when 
making such an attempt. If there is serious 
danger, of course nothing must be carried. I had 
an unpleasant experience during my first visit to 
Trinidada, which is described in The Cruise of the 
Falcon, I must have been somewhat imprudent in 
those days, for though the sea was high I put off 
from the shore in heavy clothes and sea -boots, 
loaded too with rifle, hatchet, and other articles. 
I leapt into the sea with a retreating wave, and 
proceeded to haul myself out to the boat with the 
line. To quote from the book : ' I was out of my 
depth, and I found that my impedimenta were so 
heavy that it was quite impossible for me to keep 
my head above water, and the rope was so slack 
that my weight at once dragged it under. I shall 
never forget that journey, and do not wish ever to 
repeat it. I was travelling under water. It was 
a race for life. I hauled myself up along the line as 
fast as my hands would move, with the energy of 
a drowning man. I felt as if I must have gone 
over a mile, and yet no boat ; and indeed the dis- 
tance was a very long one for a journey of this 
description. So long was I under water that the 

L* 



I70 OPEN BOAT SAILING 

cook, looking on from the shore, thought I had 
been drowned. But at last I felt the line tighten, 
my head rose above the water, there was the boat 
just in front of me, and I scrambled on board.' 

The following hints apply to river-sailing in open 
boats. In a river the current generally runs stronger 
in the centre, and more slowly along the banks ; 
but bear in mind that, if the river is winding, the 
strength of the current sweeps close past the point 
at the convex side of each bend, and then, at first 
preserving its old direction, crosses diagonally 
towards the other side before distributing itself 
evenly in the channel and acquiring the direction 
of the new reach. On the other hand, in the bay 
formed on the concave side of a bend, there is little 
or no current, and sometimes even a back eddy will 
be found. When racing on a river it is important 
to make use of this knowledge ; and also, when 
cruising on a river like the Seine, where the tide 
rushes up in a steep and dangerous wave, or bore 
as it is called in England, one's safety often depends 
on close attention to this tendency of river currents; 
for at each big bend of the river the tide is deflected, 
and there is generally a place on one side or the other 
where one can anchor in smooth water, while every- 
where else the bore is breaking heavily. In straight 
reaches the bore is most dangerous close to the 
banks ; at Caudebec, on the Seine, it piles up along 
the quay-side in a roller twenty feet in height at 
spring tides. If overtaken by the bore when sailing 



RIVER BOATING 171 

— its distant roar usually gives good warning — make 
for the middle of the river, lower your sail and meet 
it head on, pulling gently up against it with your 
sculls. 

When turning to windward on a river, the current 
with you, be careful, not to tack too near in to the 
shore, more especially if you have not got good 
steerage way ; for if you bring your boat within a 
few feet of the bank before you go about, the bow 
will be out of the current, while the stern, still re- 
maining in it, will be swept up-stream, and so cause 
you to miss stays and probably to run on shore. 

When lowering sail and taking to your oars on 
a river, follow the usual rule for rowing boats — that 
is, keep along the bank when pulling against the 
current ; stay in mid-stream when going with it. 

Beware of bridges. Do not attempt to tack 
through the arch of a bridge if it is a narrow one, 
unless you are very familiar with the conditions ; 
it is better to lower your sail and row the boat 
through. Wind concentrates in an arch as in a 
funnel ; so that supposing you approach with the 
wind almost abeam, you will find it suddenly head 
you and blow with a violent gust right in your 
teeth as you enter the arch. Even when running, 
you must be on your guard on account of this 
sudden great increase of the wind's strength, which 
is almost certain to occur; for if your mast and 
sail, as is often the case, will only pass narrowly 
under the centre of the arch, a very slight deviation 



172 OPEN BOAT SAILING 

from your course (almost unavoidable when a squall 
suddenly strikes you in the face) may cause your 
peak to get foul of the bridge above, when a capsize 
of a particularly dangerous nature is likely to ensue. 
Several lives of men who were good swimmers and 
knew their work in a boat have been lost in this 
way. Kew Bridge, removed last year, was not only 
one of the most picturesque, but was also one of the 
most dangerous bridges on the Thames for the boat- 
sailor. It crossed the river diagonally at a bend 
where the wind is generally shifting and squally, 
and where the currents form perplexing eddies. 

When sailing under a bridge with a balance-lug 
let go the tack if there is a chance of the peak 
striking the bridge. This as a rule allows the yard 
to dip several feet, and you can quickly sweat down 
your tack again as soon as you have got through. 

If your mast is too high to pass under a bridge, 
take care to lower it in good time if the current 
is with you. It is exceedingly awkward to find 
your mast jammed at the step or tabernacle, just 
as the stream is sweeping you on to the arch. 

On several rivers special local rules are in force 
which, in some cases, reverse the ordinary rules 
of the road at sea. For example, it is the custom 
on many narrow rivers for a vessel tacking up 
against the stream to give way to a vessel running 
before the wind down-stream, when the two meet 
at a bridge which will only admit of one sailing 
craft at a time passing through. It is obvious that 



RIVER TRAFFIC 173 

a vessel carried down by fair wind and current 
cannot be brought up suddenly, and would probably 
collide with the sides of the bridge had she to get 
out of the way of the vessel beating up ; whereas 
the latter is completely under control, and can easily 
luff up along the bank below the bridge and wait 
till the other has sailed through. 

It may be an unnecessary warning to give, but 
do not sail on the upper Thames near London, or 
on any other narrow crowded river, on a Bank 
Holiday, with a strong breeze blowing, unless you 
are very experienced. For an inexperienced coach- 
man to attempt to drive a hansom through the city 
in the crowded hours would be rash enough, but 
there at any rate he would be encountering none 
but skilled drivers who would observe the rule of 
the road ; whereas he who sails on the Thames 
through the crowd of boats collected on a public 
holiday must bear in mind that numbers of those 
who are in charge of these craft have no experi- 
ence whatever of watermanship, and are wholly 
ignorant of the rules of the road. Erratic often is 
the course of one of these skiffs ; and he or she 
who holds the yoke-lines, seeing your boat rushing 
through the water in his direction under a great 
sail, gets flurried, puts his rudder over first to one 
side then to the other, gives contradictory orders 
to his unmanageable crew : first they pull ahead 
in panic ; then, just as you prepare to pass under 
her stern, they of a sudden cease rowing or back- 



174 



OPEN BOAT SAILING 



water. You have to use all your skill and judg- 
ment to avoid collision, and must ever be ready 
for any unexpected or irrational manoeuvre on their 
part. I remember once turning to windward up 
the river at about the same rate that a rowing-boat 
was progressing in the same direction, so that at 
each tack I crossed her bow or stern ; her boisterous 
crew of lads and damsels, to whom tacking was a 
mystery, took it into their heads that I did this 
purposely to alarm or annoy them, and objurgated 
me in emphatic terms because I did not ' sail 
straight^ instead of zigzagging\ in that silly driLuken 
fashion from one side of the river to the other. ^ Aft;pr 
all, it is the holiday of those who can go but seldom 
on the river, and you should leave it to them if you 
can sail on other days. If you study the happiness 
of the greatest number, remember that the sailing- 
boat is a decided nuisance to the majority of 
pleasure-seekers on the river on such an occasion. 




Ship's Boats with China (balance) Lug. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE CRUISING YACHT 

How to ballast and fit her out— Anchors and cables— Lights— The 
compass — Swinging the vessel — Deviation of the compass — The 
equipment — Cooking stoves — Yacht's dinghy — How to tow a 
dinghy at sea — Collapsible boats — Sailing dinghies. 

To master the art of sailing a fore-and-after is to 
gain a source of much wholesome pleasure; but 
the pleasure is greatly enhanced when the amateur 
sailor has acquired sufficient knowledge to enable 
him to extend his sailing beyond his home waters, 
to cruise along shores new to him, finding his way 
by chart and compass, lead and log, shaping his 
course across broad seas with no land in sight, 
employing all the methods of the professional 
sailor. I know nothing more delightful than a 
summer cruise on a seaworthy little craft of the 
right description, oneself as skipper and a friend as 
crew, along the British coast with its many pleasant 
havens, or across the Channel to the Norman ports 
and up the broad Seine; or further still, beyond 
the North Sea, on Dutch canals and meres, through 
the forest-bordered sounds and up the winding fiords 



176 THE CRUISING YACHT 

of Schleswig, Holstein, and Denmark; and from 
island to island of the clear blue Baltic Sea. One 
can do these things, and visit even more distant 
shores, with a craft of very small tonnage if she be 
a good sea boat and provided one does not neglect 
the proper precautions ; it was with a three-tonner, 
for example, that I cruised for three summers on 
the rough waters of the Baltic and the North Sea 
without meeting with an accident of any de- 
scription, though I encountered plenty of heavy 
weather. 

The reader will have gathered from preceding 
chapters that the style of craft best adapted for 
such voyages is the beamy boat with plenty of 
sheer, and not carrying too much ballast — for she 
must be buoyant, riding comfortably and easily like 
a sea-bird on the tossing water, and not plung- 
ing into the crest of every wave, thereby deluging 
herself with water and straining every timber and 
spar. She should be of light draught (having a 
centreboard or leeboards if necessary) so that she 
can safely enter pleasant little shallow havens and 
ascend creeks and rivers closed to the deeper boat ; 
and lastly, she should be lightly sparred and snugly 
canvassed, yawl or ketch rigged for choice, so that 
she can be easily handled. A deep-keel, narrow 
boat is unfitted for cruising of this sort. She is likely 
to be wet in a sea-way; unless provided with legs 
to prop her up she will heel over at a most un- 
comfortable angle whenever left high and dry in 



A SUITABLE CRUISER 177 

a tidal harbour ; and — gravest objection of all — it 
will sometimes happen that, though bad weather is 
coming on, one is compelled to keep to the open 
sea with her and fight it out with the elements, 
with, nevertheless, a sheltered little harbour hard by 
yet inaccessible to her, into which a boat of lighter 
draught could have crept with ease. 

The new yacht measurement rules have happily 
brought us back to wholesome beam. Some years 
ago even yachts not intended for racing were of 
the deep-draught, narrow-gutted description. Beam 
was supposed to be incompatible with speed; and 
yet my Falcon yawl, which, though only forty-two 
feet in length, had a beam of thirteen feet, frequently 
made her nine knots an hour, and on one occasion 
beat, I imagine, the record for vessels of her size 
on an ocean voyage, having sailed two thousand sea 
miles (from Pernambuco to Georgetown, Demerara) 
in ten days, running under all plain sail and spin- 
naker; it must be remembered, too, that she was 
practically jury-rigged, all her spars and sails having 
been cut down before I left England. 

I have already said that the cruising vessel must 
be more lightly ballasted than the racer or the craft 
that is intended for sailing in some sheltered bay 
or river. She must not, of course, be lightened 
until she becomes cranky, but she should have as 
little ballast as possible. When fitting out my three- 
tonner for her Baltic cruise I took half her ballast 
out of her; and so, too, before sailing to the South 

M 



178 THE CRUISING YACHT 

Atlantic with the Alerte, I took out several tons 
of her lead ballast and substituted the same bulk 
of iron, the specific gravity of which is to that of 
lead as seven to eleven. On both these occasions 
my action was severely criticised by the wiseacres 
who hang about the shipbuilding yards; but after 
we had been at sea for some weeks my companions 
had all come round to my way of thinking. 

While on the subject of ballast I may point out 
here that it should be stowed as snugly as possible ; 
it should not be placed in the ends of a boat, 
but should be concentrated amidships, so that the 
vessel's bow and stern are kept buoyant, and rise 
readily to the seas. If the ballast is not moulded 
to fit to the vessel's framework, care must be taken 
that the pigs of iron or lead rest on the ship's 
timbers and not on her planking, otherwise the 
pressure from within will loosen the vessel's skin 
and render her leaky. Stow the ballast so that an 
open passage is left along either side of the keelson 
through which the bilge-water may run freely. For 
the same reason the limber-holes in the ship's floor 
timbers must be always kept clear. It is well to 
have a small chain rove through the limber-holes, 
and by occasionally drawing this backwards and 
forwards obstructions are removed and the water 
flows readily to the pump-well. The pump should 
be of simple construction, so that it can easily be 
repaired with the appliances on board. The pump- 
well should have a little hatch over it, so that one 



FITTING OUT A CRUISER 179 

can quickly get access to the pump and clear it if 
it is choked. The above precaution is very neces- 
sary, for pumps often get out of order, especially 
when they are most needed. I remember well how, 
when my three-tonner on her way across the North 
Sea developed a serious leak, the pump choked 
after the first half-dozen strokes. On raising the 
pump-well hatch in the cabin floor I made a curious 
discovery. It would have been strange had the 
pump worked properly, for the well was full of wood 
shavings. The lazy carpenter I had employed at 
Hammersmith had evidently, after completing some 
work in the cabin, stowed the shavings in this well 
to save himself the trouble of throwing them over- 
board. 



FITTING OUT FOR A CRUISE 

To fit out even a small yacht for a lengthy cruise 
demands a good deal of consideration. In the first 
place, all her gear should be carefully overhauled and 
be replaced wherever found faulty. Two ANCHORS 
should always be carried, so that the vessel can be 
moored with them when riding out a gale, or when 
the holding-ground is bad ; moreover, the loss of an 
anchor is a contingency for which one must be pre- 
pared, and without another one to let go one may find 
oneself in a very awkward predicament. The first 
anchor, for a boat of between five and ten tons, yacht 
measurement, should weigh about a hundredweight. 



i8o THE CRUISING YACHT 

Fifty fathoms of chain cable will suffice for it. The 
Trotman patent anchor is the one, in my opinion, 
to be preferred for a small yacht; it stows easily 
on deck ; the arms work on a pivot in the shank ; 
thus the arm that catches the ground is opened out 
and obtains a very powerful hold, while the other 
arm is brought close to the side of the shank, so 
that the chain cannot take a turn round it and foul 
the anchor. 

The second anchor should be lighter, and for its 
cable a coir, or cocoanut fibre, rope can be employed 
with advantage. Coir rope is very light, and floats 
on the water ; it has a great deal of spring in it, so 
that a vessel rides easily to it in heavy weather; for 
the same reason it serves well as a warp if the 
yacht is taken in tow by a steamer. It is often 
necessary to take out an anchor in the dinghy, so 
as to let it go at a distance from the yacht (for 
example, when the yacht has got aground and has 
to be hauled off). This can be more easily done 
if a coir and not a hemp rope is employed. It 
is also convenient to carry a small kedge anchor 
for anchoring temporarily, or for warping the 
vessel. 

So as to be able to observe the Board of Trade 
regulations, which are set out in another chapter, 
one must carry with one, while cruising, the red and 
green side-lights as prescribed in Article 2, or the 
combined lantern (see Article 7), and a white anchor 
light (see Article 11); also a bull's-eye lantern to 



THE MARINER'S COMPASS i8i 

show a light over the stern to an overtaking vessel, 
and so comply with Article lo. The bull's-eye should 
be hung up within easy reach of the helmsman ; 
thus it can be hooked into a socket just inside the 
cabin door, if the boat has a well. Paraffin should 
be burned in these lamps, but colza is to be pre- 
ferred for the binnacle lamp. It is advisable to 
procure lights somewhat larger than those generally 
supplied to small yachts, for diminutive lamps 
rarely burn well. A fog-horn — one of the ordinary 
horns sounded with the mouth satisfies the new 
Board of Trade rules for yachts under twenty tons 
— and a bell must be carried, with which to signal 
in thick weather. The rules for employing them 
will be set forth in another^ chapter. 

A good Compass is of course indispensable. On 
a small cruising yacht it should be secured on the 
fore-side of the well on a level with the deck, or in 
some other position where it can be plainly seen by 
the helmsman, and it should be as far removed as 
possible from the local attraction of ballast, large 
bolts, or other iron. The Mariner's Compass is too 
well known to need minute description here. The 
compass-card, divided into the thirty-two points of 
the compass, turns freely on a pivot fixed in the 
centre of the compass-bowl, the bowl being hung on 
double gimbals in the binnacle, so that it remains 
horizontal though the vessel rolls and pitches. On 
the side of the binnacle is a small oil lamp which 
lights the compass-card by night. When the steer- 



i82 THE CRUISING YACHT 

ing compass is in position, the Lubber's Line (a 
vertical mark on the compass-bowl) must be point- 
ing directly towards the ship's head. Consequently, 
the point on the compass-card which is in line with 
the lubber's line shows the direction by compass of 
the ship's head. What is known as the liquid com- 
pass is the best for a small yacht — that is, one in 
which the bowl is filled with spirit or glycerine, so 
as to retard the motion of the compass-card ; for the 
violent jumping of a little boat in a sea-way is 
apt to make the ordinary compass-card swing and 
spin round so that it becomes impossible to steer 
by it. Even when a liquid compass is used the 
card is often very unsteady; in that case watch 
the points on the card as they swing past the 
lubber's line. The mean between the extreme 
points reached will be the direction of the vessel's 
head. 

Before one sets out on a cruise the vessel should 
be 'swung' to ascertain if there be any deviation 
of the compass — that is, error due to the local attrac- 
tion of the ballast or other iron on board. The 
yacht should be swung when she is at her moorings. 
In the first place, the correct compass-bearings of 
some distant object should be ascertained. This 
can be done by means of a compass raised to such 
a height above the deck as to be beyond all local 
attraction ; or, if the exact position of the vessel is 
known, the bearings of some known object (a light- 
house, for example) can be found by reference to a 



DEVIATION OF THE COMPASS 183 

chart. The object must be sufficiently far off — say, 
at three miles — so that the bearing will not appre- 
ciably alter as the vessel swings. Then by slowly 
carrying the cable or mooring-rope down one side 
of the vessel to her stern and back to the bow along 
the other side, the tide can be made to swing her 
right round ; or if there is no tide her head can be 
gently pulled round with the dinghy; or again, if 
one is not pressed for time, one can make one's 
observations for deviation as the vessel swings 
naturally to ebb and flow. As her head is brought 
in succession on to each of the thirty-two points of 
the compass, careful bearings of the object must be 
taken — the compass, of course, being stationed in the 
exact position in which it will be used at sea. If 
all the bearings agree with each other and with the 
correct bearings, there is no deviation ; but if they 
differ, a table must be drawn up showing the exact 
deviation for each point of the compass towards 
which the vessel's bow was directed ; and when 
shaping one's course at sea this table must be 
referred to, and proper allowance must be made for 
the error. The rule is — with westerly deviation 
allow to the left, and with easterly deviation to the 
right. For example, if one desires to sail N.E., and' 
the table shows that with the vessel's head pointing 
N.E. her compass has an easterly deviation of one 
point, one will have to steer one point to the left of 
N.E.— that is, N.E. by N. 

The following example will show how a Deviation 



1 84 



THE CRUISING YACHT 



Table is drawn up. The deviation for the first four 
points only out of the thirty-two is given : — 



Ship's Head 
by Compass. 


Deviation. 


Correct 
Magnetic Course. 


N. 

N. by E. 
N.N.E. 
N.E. by N. 
Etc. 


I-E. 
I E. 

2i W. 

ij w. 

Etc. 


N. i E. 
N.N.E. 
N. J W. 
N. by E. I- E. 
Etc. 



The table is thus employed. Look to column 3 for 
the direction in which you wish to sail ; the corre- 
sponding course in Table i is the course which you 
must steer by your compass. For example, by the 
table above, if your destination bears N. -J E. you 
will have to steer N. by your compass. The points 
of the compass are generally expressed in degrees 
on a Deviation Table. (As there are thirty-two 
points in the circle of 360 degrees, a point measures 
III degrees.) Thus N.E. would be N. 45° E. But 
when navigating a small yacht it is unnecessary to 
employ these numerical subdivisions of the points 
of the compass ; the quarter-point is a sufficiently 
minute division for all practical purposes. On 
small wooden yachts, if the compass is in the right 
place and proper precautions are taken, there is 
rarely any serious deviation. 



NECESSARY TOOLS 185 

Among the many articles that one must not for- 
get to have on board when fitting out for a foreign 
cruise are marline-spikes ; carpenter's tools ; spare 
blocks, thimbles, and shackles ; buckets, brooms, 
and mops ; spare crutches for the dinghy ; needles 
and palm for repairing sails ; tarred twine ; spare 
ropes ; paint-brushes ; tins of paint and varnish. 
One should carry strong fenders with which to pro- 
tect the vessel's side when she is lying alongside a 
quay. The fenders sold by the yachting fitters look 
very smart in their white coats, but they will not 
stand much rough work. It is better to make one's 
own fenders ; a few lengths of coir rope neatly 
seized together form a very efficient fender. See 
that you supply yourself with the above and other 
requirements before you sail from England ; for you 
will have to pay much more for them if you do your 
purchasing at a ship-chandler's in a foreign port. 
The same rule applies to tinned meats and other 
non-perishable provisions. 

The Cooking-stove is not the least important 
item on the yacht's inventory. A charcoal stove is 
the best if one is cruising in chilly autumn or winter 
weather, as it will keep the cabin warm. But a 
spirit or paraffin stove is much the more convenient 
for summer work, as it can be lighted in a moment 
when required, and extinguished as quickly when it 
has done its work. The spirit stove, on account of 
its superior cleanliness, is, in my opinion, far to be 
preferred to that which burns paraffin. The latter, 

M * 



i86 THE CRUISING YACHT 

unless very carefully tended, produces lamp-black, 
than which no form of dirt is more difficult to deal 
with on board a boat. Throughout my South 
American and West Indian cruises on the Falcon^ 
and my voyages on smaller craft on the Baltic and 
nearer waters, I employed nothing but a spirit stove. 
The expense is moderate. There is never any diffi- 
culty in renewing one's supply of spirit. At every 
little home port one can procure methylated spirits ; 
and in every foreign port I have visited spirits of 
wine, or some other form of alcohol, are to be pur- 
chased at small cost. On referring to my log, I 
find that on my Baltic cruise, though we did a good 
deal of cooking, we consumed only a shilling's 
worth of spirit a week. 

The internal or domestic arrangements of the 
cruising yacht will depend much upon the indi- 
vidual tastes of the owner. The cabin of the little 
five-tonner can be made very comfortable, and it is 
well to have it so if it is to be one's home for several 
weeks or months. It should be provided with cup- 
boards in which to keep such articles as would be 
spoiled by damp, and with lockers along the sides 
under the bunks, where bottles of beer and other 
stores that will not be affected by water can be 
stowed. On the walls there should be racks for 
glasses, shelves for books, and nettings for charts, 
etc. Everything must have its right place on a 
boat, not only on deck, but below as well ; for not 
to be able to put one's hand in a moment on the 



CABIN FURNITURE 187 

dividers and parallel rules, or even, say, the cork- 
screw, is almost as bad as to have to fumble about 
in search of a halyard which has been belayed to a 
wrong cleat. When upholstering the cabin, bear in 
mind that sea-water is likely to get into it now and 
again, so do not cover your bunks with materials 
whose colour is likely to wash out ; dark flannel 
makes the best colour for the bunks, and is not cold 
to sleep on like American cloth. The floor carpet- 
ing should be capable of being easily washed and 
rapidly dried ; for a small yacht nothing is so good 
as cocoanut matting. 

In the forecastle of the small cruiser are kept the 
stove and cooking-pots, the lamps, mops, brooms, 
and so forth. On some boats the spare sails are 
kept here, and one's oilskins can hang on the 
walls. The chain-locker is also in the forecastle. 
If the chain is a long one it should be divided into 
two or more lengths, which can be connected when 
necessary by shackles. In the chain-locker should 
be stowed a length of chain sufficient for ordinary 
working purposes. The rest of the chain can be 
stowed under the cabin flooring on the top of the 
ballast, to be brought out and shackled on to the 
working chain when heavy weather or bad holding- 
ground necessitate riding to a long scope of cable. 
To have all one's chain in the locker is to carry 
superfluous weight in the very place where it should 
not be, in the bows of the vessel, where it tends to 
drag her nose down, prevents her rising to the 



i88 THE CRUISING YACHT 

waves, and makes her a wet and uncomfortable 
boat in a sea-way. It is not often that one has 
to employ more than twenty-five fathoms of chain 
when anchoring a five-tonner, as one can generally 
creep into shallow water for a berth; therefore it 
is not necessary to carry a greater length than this 
in the sail-locker. 

On a boat of under five tons measurement the 
anchor can be got up by hand ; so it is well to 
dispense with a windlass, and thus avoid an extra 
weight in the bows. If the anchor ever gets such 
firm hold of the ground that it will not come up, 
a watch tackle clapped on to the chain will generally 
dislodge it. If no windlass is carried, it is essential 
that the chain end should be made fast to a bolt in 
one of the forecastle timbers, or other secure place, 
else some careless person may, when anchoring, let 
the whole chain run overboard. Indeed, this precau- 
tion should be taken even if a windlass is employed. 

Capacious lockers generally surround the small 
yacht's well. In one of these the spare sails can be 
kept, in another the warps, spare blocks, etc., while 
another will serve as larder. A completely water- 
tight well adds greatly to the cruiser's safety. It 
should be provided with a powerful well-pump so 
that it can be quickly emptied if a sea be shipped. 

THE yacht's dinghy 

Every cruising yacht must have with her a 
dinghy of some description. It is almost im- 



YACHT'S DINGHY 189 

possible to carry a wooden dinghy on the deck 
of a small yacht ; as a rule, therefore, the boat 
has to be towed astern, retarding the vessel's 
speed considerably, and becoming a source of 
danger in rough water. If too long a tow-line 
is given to a dinghy when running before a heavy 
sea she will steer wildly, alternately leaping her 
whole painter's length down upon the vessel, and 
drifting astern again till the tautening line brings 
her up with another jerk. She is very likely in 
these circumstances either to stave herself in or to 
drive a hole in the vessel's stern, and she is all the 
more likely to come to grief if the yacht has a long 
counter. The best plan in heavy weather is to 
tow the dinghy with two very short tow-lines, one 
fastened to each of the vessel's quarters ; this will 
prevent her from sheering about, and, even if she 
does strike the vessel occasionally, she will do so 
with no great force. If a weight is put in her stern, 
she will steer better still. I towed a wooden dinghy 
from the Thames to Sweden and back again behind 
my three-ton ketch (which I have described in a 
former chapter), frequently encountering bad weather 
on both the North Sea and the Baltic, without the 
boat's suffering any injury. But the ketch, it must 
be remembered, was an old P. and O. lifeboat and 
had a pointed stern, so that if the dinghy's bow 
struck her it glided off instead of delivering a 
heavy blow, as would have been the case had the 
vessel had a square stern or a counter. Moreover, 



190 THE CRUISING YACHT 

the dinghy had a small false keel, and with this a 
boat always steers much more steadily. 

A collapsible dinghy is undoubtedly the best for 
a small yacht, as it can be folded up and laid on 
deck, or can even be stowed away in the cabin. 
The Berthon collapsible boat, of which I have had 
considerable experience, is a very good sea-boat. 
Though made of canvas, one can take a Berthon 
through a surf and beach her on a rocky shore 
without tearing her frail sides if proper precautions 
are taken ; indeed a light Berthon, with a couple 
of active men in charge, runs less risk of having 
a hole knocked into her bottom than does a heavy 
wooden boat. I had a ten-foot Berthon with me 
on the Falcon during my cruise in South American 
waters, and I have often landed her safely on a 
shore bristling with sharp coral rocks. The pro- 
cedure was as follows : — On getting into the breakers 
my companion and myself would jump overboard — 
possibly to find ourselves out of our depth — and 
holding on to her, one on each side, we would take 
her on with us, wading or swimming, lift her up 
bodily when in shallow water, carry her above the 
reach of the breakers, and then lay her gently down. 
We used to put off from the shore in the same 
fashion ; that is, we would wade in quickly after a 
retiring wave, carrying the Berthon with us, swim 
out with her till we were outside the breakers, and 
then in turn clamber on board over the stern. The 
James collapsible boat is also highly spoken of by 



SAILS FOR DINGHY 191 

those who have used it, and it certainly looks like 
a very serviceable yacht's dinghy. 

It is always well to have a mast and sail for 
one's dinghy. The pleasures of yachting are much 
enhanced if one carries a boat with which one can 
sail while the vessel lies at anchor, for one can 
then make many interesting little voyages on waters 
inaccessible to the yacht. If one decides to tow 
a wooden dinghy astern she can be fitted with a 
wooden centreboard or with a false keel, to enable 
her to turn to windward, for this does not materially 
increase her weight. The dinghy I had with me 
while cruising on the Baltic was eleven feet long ; 
she had a false keel nearly six inches deep, and a 
large balance-lug under which she sailed very well. 
I have many pleasant memories of my wanderings 
with her up sheltered inland waters — streams, 
creeks, and meres — while the wind and sea were 
roaring outside the harbour where the yacht lay 
weather-bound. The dinghy would be brought 
alongside ; the mast, the sail, and a few pigs of 
ballast would be lowered into her; a provision of 
bread and cheese and beer would be placed in the 
stern-sheets, pipe and tobacco would not be for- 
gotten ; and then, with sketch-book and fishing- 
rod as my companions, away I would sail for the 
whole long summer day. One day, for example, 
starting from the entrance of the Slei Fiord, where 
the yacht lay at anchor, I sailed up that winding 
water to Schleswig and back, a cruise of sixty miles 



192 THE CRUISING YACHT 

through the most delightful scenery. The Slei, 
like Roeskilde, and the many other Danish fiords 
which I explored with the dinghy, forms a succes- 
sion of narrows and broad lakes bordered by grassy 
hills and woods of firs and great beeches, among 
which nestle the picturesque old villages and the 
comfortable, deep-eaved, thatched farm-houses of 
that pleasant country, the water being in most 
places too shallow to have admitted the yacht, and 
so limpid that every stone and weed at the bottom 
was clearly visible to me, even in the deeper pools. 
Not only when visiting foreign shores, but also 
when cruising in home waters, I have always found 
the sailing dinghy so great a source of pleasure 
that, personally, I consider it indispensable to a 
yacht. How many of the prettier Broads of Norfolk 
and creeks and streams of the Solent and the 
Channel are so shallow as to be open to the 
dinghy alone. 

Every one who has cruised with a small yacht 
knows what trouble the dinghy can occasionally 
give when the vessel is lying at anchor at night. 
However long the painter by which she rides, and 
to whatever part of the yacht it be fastened, the 
dinghy develops an exasperating fidgetiness, ranging 
up and down, and bumping into the yacht's sides, 
knocking off her paint and disturbing the owner's 
slumbers. This happens when wind and tide are 
opposed and alternately take command of the 
dinghy, so that at one moment she is carried astern 



MISBEHAVIOUR OF THE DINGHY 193 

of the yacht by the action of the current, and at 
the next is blown towards her by a stronger puff 
than usual. When a dinghy behaves in this fashion 
fasten a bucket to her stern by a line about six feet 
long, and let the bucket sink in the water; the 
pressure exerted on the bucket by the tide will 
drag the dinghy astern and keep her away from 
the yacht. 




A Dutch Schuyt. 



N 



CHAPTER X 
THE ART OF COASTING 

How to use Charts — Sounding — Heaving the log — Tides — The 
Barometer — Getting a slant — Weather-wisdom — Storm signals — 
Weather forecasts. 

A YACHT of small tonnage, such as I have described 
in this book, is unfit for an ocean voyage ; but, as 
I have already said, she can be safely navigated 
from one end of Europe to the other, provided she 
be a boat of the right sort, and the skipper knows 
his business and is not foolhardy. * Coasting' is 
a wide term, and to cross the North Sea where it 
is four hundred miles in breadth would still be 
reckoned as coasting work. On a coasting voyage 
to the Baltic, for example, one would often be out 
of sight of land for many hours at a time. A 
knowledge of navigation in the strict sense of the 
term — that is, the determination of a vessel's posi- 
tion at sea by observation of the sun, moon, and 
stars, and her guidance from land to land by 
dead reckoning, as carried out in the orthodox 
fashion by working traverses, and so forth — is not 
needed by the coasting seaman. A rough-and- 



THE CHART 195 

ready system suffices for the little cruiser; but as 
her owner has to pick his way along, to him, un- 
familiar coasts, identifying new landmarks, avoid- 
ing shoals and rocks and other dangers, shaping 
his course across broad waters, he must carry with 
him certain instruments and other articles connected 
with navigation, and make himself thoroughly con- 
versant with their use. Thus he must provide him- 
self with a hand-lead and line for sounding; a 
log-ship and line with which to gauge the speed 
his vessel is making ; the charts of the coasts he 
proposes to visit, and the pilot-books and sailing 
directions to accompany them ; dividers and parallel 
rules ; and one of the almanacs published for the 
use of the coasting sailor (Pearson's is the one which 
I have always used, and it is to be highly recom- 
mended) which contain the tide-tables for British 
and other European ports, and a good deal of other 
useful information. 



THE CHART 

As the world is spherical, no portion of it can be 
correctly represented on a flat surface such as a 
chart. All maps and charts necessarily distort the 
relative sizes of different regions and the distances 
between various points. Several methods of dealing 
with this difficulty have been devised. Formerly 
mariners employed the Plane Charts on which the 
parallels of latitude and the meridians of longitude 



196 THE ART OF COASTING 

were drawn as equidistant straight lines. This was 
correct so far as the parallels of latitude are con- 
cerned ; but whereas the meridians of longitude are 
in fact furthest apart at the Equator and meet at the 
Poles, great error was produced by this projection. 
At last Kauffman, known as Mercator, introduced 
the chart called after him Mercator's Charts which 
was at once recognised as being admirably adapted 
for the purposes of navigation. In the Mercator's 
chart, as in the Plane chart, the meridians of longi- 
tude are drawn as parallel equidistant straight lines ; 
they are thus greatly distorted, and the Polar regions 
are magnified to an enormous extent ; but the 
parallels of latitude are not drawn as equidistant, as 
in the Plane chart, but are distorted in proportion 
to the distortion of the meridians — that is, they are 
drawn further apart as the Poles are approached. 
For example, a degree of longitude on the latitude 
of Edinburgh, though appearing on Mercator's chart 
of the same length as a degree of longitude at the 
Equator, is in reality nearly double the length of 
the latter: a degree of latitude on the parallel of 
Edinburgh — as will be seen on inspecting a chart 
— is therefore magnified in like proportion, being 
drawn nearly twice as long as a degree of latitude 
on the Equator. By this projection, consequently, 
the relative shape of different regions of the Earth 
is approximately preserved. 

The great advantage of Mercator's chart lies in 
the fact that, though upon it there is a distortion of 



SETTING A CHART COURSE 197 

relative magnitudes and distances, the direction from 
one point to another is correctly represented ; that 
is, if a place is N.N.E. of another place it appears so 
on the chart, and a straight line drawn on a chart 
between the two places would correctly represent 
the track of a vessel steering on a N.N.E. course. 
The mariner can therefore find his course from one 
place to another without any difficulty on this chart. 
The parallel rules are laid so that one edge touches 
both places on the chart ; the rules are then slid over 
the surface of the chart (one of the rules only being 
moved at a time, so that the direction is preserved) 
until one edge is exactly over the centre of one of 
the compasses which are designed on the chart. The 
edge will then indicate on the compass the course to 
be steered. 

Except in certain special plans, which, for con- 
venience, are drawn on a diagonal scale, the top of 
a chart is the true North, the bottom is the true 
South, and the right and left sides are true East and 
West respectively ; straight parallel lines drawn 
across the chart from right to left and from top to 
bottom representing the parallels of latitude and the 
meridians of longitude. I need scarcely explain 
that the magnetic needle, in most parts of the world, 
does not point due North, but to the West or East 
of it at an angle which varies with the locality. The 
difference between the true and magnetic North is 
called the Variation of the Compass, and is expressed 
in its angular value ; thus, outside the mouth of the 



198 THE ART OF COASTING 

English Channel, the variation is 25° W. The com- 
passes designed on general charts, such as the chart 
of the North Atlantic, show the true points of the 
compass, but on the coasting charts employed by 
the owner of the small cruiser the compass designs 
are more generally magnetic. When laying down 
one's course on a chart of the latter description, one 
has but to use the parallel rules in the manner I have 
already explained, and the course to be steered will 
be read off on the compass design. On the other 
hand if one is using a chart on which the compass 
is true, one must correct for variation the course as 
shown on the chart. The variation is given in 
figures on most charts. When correcting a true 
course into a magnetic course, allowance to the right 
must be made if the variation is westerly, to the left 
if it is easterly. For example, if one's true course by 
the chart is S.W. and the variation is 25° W., one 
must steer 25° — that is, roughly, two points — to the 
right of S.W., which makes the course W.S.W. 

Not only can one find one's correct course on a 
chart, but it is also possible, despite the distortion 
of magnitudes produced by Mercator's projection, 
to measure distances upon it. To do this with 
accuracy necessitates calculations beyond the scope 
of this book ; these are explained in Norie's, Raper's, 
and other works on navigation. But distances can 
also be approximately ascertained on the chart by 
simple measurement, a method sufficiently accurate 
for all practical purposes. On looking at a chart it 



DISTANCES ON A CHART 199 

will be seen that the lines representing the meridians 
on the extreme right and left are graduated, that 
is, marked off in degrees and minutes of latitude. 
These graduated meridians can be used as a scale 
for the measurement of distance upon the chart. 
But as degrees of latitude, though everywhere of 
equal length, on Mercator's chart are drawn longer 
as the poles are approached, each particular section 
of the graduated meridian can only serve as a scale 
for the regions on that latitude. 

Thus if we wish to measure the distance between 
two places on the chart, one of which is in 50° North 
latitude and the other in 60° North, we must use as 
scale of miles that part of the graduated meridian 
lying between those limits. The following is the 
quickest method of procedure. Open the dividers 
so that the two legs are on the two places on the 
chart. Then with the dividers measure off this 
distance on the graduated meridians, so placing the 
dividers that the mean latitude between the two 
places (which would be 55° North in the above 
example) lies half-way between the two legs of the 
dividers. The distance can now be read off the 
graduated meridian, in degrees and minutes, a 
degree containing 60 minutes or nautical miles, 
which are to English miles roughly as seven are to 
six. On coasting charts, where small areas only 
are represented, an ordinary scale of nautical miles 
is sometimes drawn, which serves to measure dis- 
tances with sufficient accuracy. 



200 THE ART OF COASTING 

In addition to its accurate representation of the 
configuration of the coast, a chart supplies the 
mariner with a variety of necessary information. 
The signs and abbreviations employed are usually 
explained in the corner of the chart The following 
are the most important among these : — 

The small numbers on a chart indicate the sound- 
ings, either in fathoms or feet, at low water ordinary 
spring tides. The nature of the bottom is also 
shown, the following being some of the abbreviations 
used : — cl.^ clay ; c, coarse ; f., fine ; g., gravel ; h,^ 
hard ; s.^ soft ; m.^ mud ; oz.y ooze ; peb. pebbles ; 
sh.y shells. 

The Roman numerals on the chart give the Tidal 
Establishment of the place ; that is, the hour of high 
water at the full and change of the moon. Thus 
H. W. F. & C. Xlh. 40m., signifies high water at 
full and change at eleven hours forty minutes. 
From this one is able by the following method, 
without any reference to tide tables, to calculate 
with sufficient accuracy the hour of high water. 
Find in your almanac the date of the last full 
or new moon, and for every day that has elapsed 
since then add forty-eight minutes to the time of 
high-water at full and change, as given on the 
chart. 

Arrows on the chart indicate the direction of 
tides and currents: on some charts an arrow 
feathered on one side shows the direction of the 
flood-tide, an unfeathered arrow that of the ebb. 



LIGHTS AND BUOYS 201 

The rate of tides and currents is given in knots 
and fractions of knots. The rise of the tide is 
given in feet. 

The qualities of the lights displayed on lighthouses 
and light-ships are shown as follows on the chart : — 
Lt. F., light fixed ; Lt. FL^ light flashing ; Lt. Rev.^ 
light revolving. The intervals between flashes ; the 
durations of revolutions ; the colour of lights ; the 
radius at which a light is visible in ordinary weather 
from a ship's deck ; the different bearings between 
which a light becomes visible, or is obscured, or 
shows a different colour, etc., are also indicated on 
the chart. 

The following abbreviations, among others, are 
employed to show the distinguishing marks and 
colours of buoys and Deacons, etc. : — B., black ; 
R., red ; W., white ; H. S., horizontally striped ; 
V. S., vertically striped ; Cheq., chequered ; B. R., 
black and red. 



SOUNDING 

A Lead and Line for sounding are indispensable 
on every yacht. For a small cruiser the deep-sea- 
lead^ weighing 28 pounds, is of course unnecessary ; 
the hand lead of 14 pounds, is sufficient ; and 
even a lighter lead, say of five pounds, will as 
a rule be found the most convenient for coasting 
purposes. 

The line generally used with the hand lead is 

N * 



202 THE ART OF COASTING 

twenty-five fathoms long, and is marked at intervals 
in the following manner : — 

At 2 fathoms with Leather with two ends. 



3 


J> 3 


, Leather with three ends. 


5 




, White calico. 


7 


}) 


, Red bunting. 


10 




, Leather with a hole in it. 


13 




, Blue serge. 


15 


>> 


, White calico. 


17 


>J 


, Red bunting. 


20 


>J 


, Strand with two knots in it. 



These marks make it easy to distinguish the 
depth of water when sounding by day ; and, at night, 
the leadsman can tell by the different feel of the 
materials used for the marks which one is passing 
through his hand. The intervening unmarked 
depths in fathoms are called the deeps \ of these 
there are therefore eleven, as follows: — i, 4, 6, 8, 9, 
II, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 19 fathoms. 

In order to take soundings from a vessel which is 
under way, hold the line in the hand about six feet 
from the lead; swing the lead round to give it 
momentum, and throw it forward so that it falls in 
the water in front of the vessel. The advance of the 
vessel will bring the line almost perpendicularly over 
the lead; take in the slack of the line so soon as 
the absence of weight shows you that the lead has 
reached the bottom ; and then the portion of the 
line on the surface of the water will indicate the 



CASTING THE LEAD 203 

depth. In order to obtain an accurate sounding, all 
this must be done smartly, more especially if the 
vessel has much speed on her. It is often advisable 
to heave the vessel to while sounding. 

It is the custom at sea for the leadsman after 
taking a cast of the lead to sing out the depth in 
marks and deeps. Thus if the first piece of red 
bunting is on the surface of the water, indicating a 
depth of seven fathoms, he calls out ''By the mark 
seven' If the five-fathom mark is submerged and 
the seven-fathom mark is six feet out of the water, 
he calls out 'By the deep six.' The depths are calcu- 
lated to quarter fathoms ; thus if the depth be a 
quarter of a fathom more than six fathoms, this 
would be announced by ^ the leadsman as 'By the 
deep six, and a quarter six' 

Always take soundings on the windward side 
of a vessel : if you throw the lead over on the lee 
side, the leeway of the vessel will cause her to drift 
across your line, which may consequently get foul of 
keel or rudder. 

There is a hollow at the heel of a lead, and if this 
be filled with tallow (the process is called * arming 
the lead') a cast of the lead brings up a specimen of 
the bottom, mud, gravel, shells, as the case may be. 
This is often of great service — in iog^y weather, for 
example, when landmarks are not distinguishable — 
for if one compares the depth of water and nature 
of the bottom as given by the lead with the similar 
indications on the chart, the position of the vessel 



204 THE ART OF COASTING 

may be ascertained. Allowance must of course be 
made for the state of the tide ; the soundings on the 
charts, as I have already explained, being calculated 
for low water, ordinary spring tides. 

The LOG-SHIP, LOG-LINE, and LOG-GLASS enable 
one to calculate a vessel's speed through the water. 
The log-ship is a triangular piece of wood, about 
five inches broad, weighted with lead on one side 
so as to sink it and keep it perpendicular. The 
end of the log-line is attached to the corners of the 
log-ship by three small lines, forming a bridle. One 
of these lines terminates in a peg which fits into 
a hole in the log-ship, in such a way that it is re- 
leased when a strain is put on the log-ship ; the 
log-ship then being turned on edge, offers small 
resistance to the water, and can be more easily 
hauled on board. 

The Log-Glass is a common sand-glass constructed 
so as to run out in a certain number of seconds — 
generally fifteen or thirty seconds. 

The Log-line^ which is 120 fathoms long, is knotted 
at regular intervals, the distances between knot and 
knot bearing the same proportion to a nautical mile 
as the number of seconds in which the glass runs 
out bears to one hour. The last few fathoms of 
line next to the log-ship are not knotted, and this 
portion, known as the stray-line, is marked by a 
bit of bunting. The log-line is wound round a 
reeL 



HEAVING THE LOG 205 

The log is hove in the following way: — One man 
takes the reel in his hand while another holds the log- 
glass upright, with all the sand lying in the lower cup. 
When the word is given the log-ship is thrown 
overboard and drops astern. The moment that the 
bunting, marking the end of the stray-line, is seen 
to go over the quarter, the order turn is given and 
the man holding the glass reverses it so that the 
sand begins to run. The log-ship, owing to the 
resistance of the water, drags the line out from the 
reel. As the last sand runs out of the upper cup of 
the glass, the man holding it calls stop. The line is 
immediately checked, and the number of knots that 
have gone overboard show the number of nautical 
miles or knots per hour that the vessel is making 
through the water. The check on the line at the 
end of the operation releases the bridle-peg of which 
I have spoken, so that the log-ship is now easily 
hauled on board. 

The patent self-registering logs are scarcely to be 
recommended for small craft. Though answering 
excellently on steamers, they are apt to register a 
less distance than has in reality been made if a 
vessel is sailing slowly in light winds. After some 
practice the yachtsman should be able, by looking 
at the water over the side, to gauge pretty accurately 
the rate at which his little craft is going ; and it is 
rare indeed, even in the course of a long coasting 
voyage, that he will find it necessary to use a log of 
any description — at any rate that is my experience. 



2o6 THE ART OF COASTING 

TIDES 

I have already explained how one can calculate 
the hour of high water at a place for any particular 
day, if the chart indicates the tidal establishment of 
that place — that is, the hour of high water there, at 
the full and change of the moon. But a more 
acccurate method for finding the time of high water 
for any well-known port is to refer to a Nautical 
Almanac^ such as Pearson's, which costs only six- 
pence, and is the most useful little book of its kind I 
know of. In this almanac are to be found tide tables 
for some of the principal ports in Great Britain, anid 
also an extensive list of British and other ports 
and positions with their tidal constants — that is, the 
difference in time between the high water at these 
places and high water at some standard port, such 
as London Bridge. 

Thus if you wish to ascertain the time of high 
water at the Nore for August 15, refer to the above- 
mentioned list and you will find that the tidal con- 
stant for the Nore is — i h. 45 m., which signifies that 
it is high water there one hour and forty-five minutes 
earlier than at London Bridge. Then look up the 
London Bridge tide tables for the hour of high 
water on August 15, which we will suppose to be 
3 h. 15 m. P.M. Deduct i h. 45 m. from 3 h. 15 m., 
and the result, i h. 30 m. P^., will be the time of 
high water at the Nore for that day. If the sign 
before the constant had been -|- instead of — it 



TIDE TABLES 207 

would have signified that it was high water at 
the Nore later than at London Bridge, and you 
would have had to add the times instead of subtract- 
ing one from the other. 

When the tidal constant of a place is not given in 
the almanac, it can be found, provided one knows 
the tidal establishment of the place and also that 
of some standard port, e.g. London Bridge ; for the 
difference between these two times is the tidal 
constant of the place, additive if the tidal establish- 
ment of the place is greater than that of London, 
subtractive if it be less. Thus if the chart gives the 
tidal establishment of the place as IV h., the differ- 
ence between IV h. and I h. 58 m. (which is the tidal 
establishment of London Bridge) gives the tidal 
constant -|- 2 h. 2 m., which can be applied to the 
London Bridge tide tables, in the manner before 
explained, in order to find the hour of high water 
for the day. 

It must be borne in mind that strong winds often 
accelerate or retard high water and affect the range 
of the tide. Thus on the Thames, with a gale from 
the East, high water will be earlier and the rise of 
the tide will be higher than would be the case if the 
conditions were normal. 

When shaping one's course at sea and establish- 
ing one's position in the manner that will be 
explained in the next chapter, it is often of great 
importance to know at what hour the tide turns 
and at what speed it runs at different periods of the 



208 THE ART OF COASTING 

flood and ebb. In the first place, in the open sea, 
the tide rises from low to high water in about six 
hours and twelve minutes, and falls from high to low 
water in the same time. Near the land various 
conditions affect the tide, and on tidal rivers the 
further one is above the mouth the shorter is the 
duration of the flood. Thus on the Thames at 
Kew the tide flows for about, three hours only, 
while the current is running down for about nine 
hours. 

The tide rises fastest at half-flood and is at its 
slowest during the first and last hours of the flood. 
On the average, if x represent the rise of the tide in 
feet during the first hour of the flood ^x will be the 
rise in the second hour, ^ in the third hour, /\x in 
the fourth hour, '^x in the fifth hour, and x in the 
last hour. The rate of the ebb is in the reverse 
order. 

THE BAROMETER 

Of all the articles that are required for the 
equipment of the small cruising vessel none is more 
indispensable than the aneroid barometer. The 
little cutter or yawl of five tons is not intended 
to contend with strong gales at sea. In the course 
of a long coasting voyage, such as to the Baltic, one 
is sure to encounter rough weather occasionally; 
but it is almost certain to be through one's own 
fault if one is caught out at sea in a dangerous 
storm. For him who can read his barometer 



THE BAROMETER 209 

aright and does not neglect its warnings, there is 
no foolhardiness in coasting all over Europe with a 
small craft. A coasting voyage of this description 
is a succession of comparatively short runs from 
port to port ; and it is seldom that one is compelled 
to be as much as twenty-four hours at a time at 
sea. The prudent mariner picks his weather before 
leaving the shelter of a port, to make a passage of 
any duration. He awaits a 'slant' as the sailors 
call it — that is, steady fine weather and a fair wind. 
When he is assured of these conditions by the indi- 
cations of his barometer and other favourable signs, 
he weighs his anchor and speeds to the harbour of 
his destination, his object being to get there as soon 
as possible and before the weather can undergo a 
change for the worse. 

Dangerous weather very rarely, if ever, comes on 
unheralded, and if one awaits the right moment 
one can practically insure for oneself fine weather 
for at least twenty-four hours. I have sometimes 
been kept in port unnecessarily by an unfavourable 
weather forecast, the expected gale not arriving ; 
but I cannot call to mind any occasion on which 
really bad weather has come when the barometer 
has foretold that it would be fine. Before sailing 
from a British port one should read the weather 
observations in one of the morning papers. Each 
leading London paper publishes a chart representing 
the movement of the barometer for several days, 
and also the forecast for twenty-four hours, for 

O 



2IO THE ART OF COASTING 

different districts, which is issued each night by the 
Meteorological Office. 

A friend of mine, a most skilled yachtsman in 
most respects, once sailed from the Isle of Wight 
to Havre in his five-tonner. He was caught in a 
gale before he made his port, lost his dinghy, and 
very nearly lost his vessel and his life. I heard the 
Cowes boatmen speaking of his foolhardiness in 
crossing the Channel, where it is one hundred miles 
broad, with so small a craft. Now they were wrong 
in making this criticism ; for it was not in attempting 
the passage that his foolhardiness lay, but in his 
neglect to look at his barometer before he weighed 
his anchor. He was too impatient to await a slant. 
I have myself undertaken numerous long coasting 
voyages with five-tonners, three-tonners, and open 
boats, having sailed many thousands of miles on the 
waters that wash our own shores, on the Baltic, the 
Carribean and other seas, and I do not consider that 
I was guilty of any foolhardiness in doing so ; but 
had it not been that I always carefully picked my 
weather and watched my glass, I should no doubt 
have come to grief time after time. It is the cau- 
tious and not the reckless sailor who takes his little 
vessel to distant shores ; for the reckless one, if he 
attempts the foreign cruise, is likely to have such 
unpleasant experiences before he has got far from 
home that he will abandon his enterprise, and may 
consider himself lucky if he succeeds in bringing his 
vessel back to his starting-point. Have you not 



LOCAL WEATHER WISDOM 211 

always observed that the reckless person, who 
undertakes some risky adventure in thoughtless 
ignorance, is the first to lose his head in the presence 
of the danger, which he was unable to realise before 
he blindly rushed into it ? 

Some people place implicit faith in the weather 
wisdom of old sailors. This is all very well in its 
way, and weather can, of course, be foretold by 
observing the aspect of the sky, the movements of 
birds, and so forth. But I have often found the old 
sailor altogether at fault in his prognostications : 
the barometer is the only reliable guide. In The 
Falcon on the Baltic I illustrated these truths by 
narrating my own experiences on two occasions. 
On the first occasion I ^as lying weather-bound in 
Harwich waiting for a slant to take me to Holland. 
It was wild-looking weather, the boatmen of the 
place shook their heads knowingly, and were confi- 
dent that a storm was on its way to us, and the 
coxswain of the lifeboat told me that a friend of his, 
the skipper of a barge, had telegraphed from South 
Shields — * Barge detained by heavy gales.' But I 
could not believe that my barometer, which had 
been steady for some days, was capable of deceiving 
me; and moreover the wind was fair, so I was 
inclined to be off. However, so as to satisfy my 
mind, I decided to obtain a later official forecast 
than that afforded by the morning papers. I 
remembered that the Meteorological Office would, 
if applied to, telegraph a weather-forecast for the 



212 



THE ART OF COASTING 



sum of one shilling. So I availed myself of this very 
useful arrangement. I telegraphed in the afternoon, 
What weather Harwich to Rotterdam to-morrow?' 
in an hour's time I received the following reply : 
* Light S.W. breezes, fine, sea nearly smooth/ I 
knew that the official opinion of the clerk of the 
weather was more to be relied on than the wisdom 
of all the ancient mariners put together ; so despite 




-TB5- 



In the Sound. 



the stormy-looking sky and the warnings of wise- 
acres on shore, I weighed my anchor confidently at 
daybreak, crossed the North Sea, and found that 
the predictions of the weather prophet were entirely 
correct. 

On the second occasion I was crossing the Cattegat 
on my way to the Sound and Copenhagen. I had 
been sailing for a day and a night before a light 
breeze, with no appearances of bad weather in the 
sky. But the glass had fallen a quarter of an inch 



A DUTCH WISEACRE 213 

in the night and was still falling ; so I made for the 
nearest port of refuge on the Zeeland coast, a little 
fishing-haven called Gillelie. When I sailed in I 
found that a fete was in progress, the fishermen en- 
joying themselves ; for this happened to be the last 
day of their idle season ; all the herringers were ready 
for sea, and were about to sail to the fishing-grounds 
round the island of Anholt on the following morning. 
' I suppose you will be sailing at the same time as 
we do,' said a fisherman to me. 

* I don't think that any of us will sail to-morrow,* 
I replied. 

' How is that ? ' he asked, * the herringers must 
sail/ 

* It will be blowing a g^ale from the north-west,' I 
said. 

* Ah, you are wrong, captain, you don't know this 
coast like I do.' 

* I don't know anything about the coast, but come 
below and look at our glass.' 

It had fallen another quarter of an inch and was 
now very low. 

I was sure that a strong blow was coming. I was 
willing to stake my reputation on it, and, if I was 
wrong I would never trust in a barometer again. 
But my friend scouted the idea of an approaching 
gale, said he did not believe in glasses, and, what 
was more to the point, did not understand them. 
**rhe wind is south-west,' he urged; *we never get 
bad weather from that quarter.' 



214 THE ART OF COASTING 

' Then it will shift to the north-east by and by/ I 
replied. ' I am sure that I at any rate, will not sail 
to-morrow.' 

That night, while we were watching a firework 
display on a hill above the village, the wind suddenly 
shifted to north-west and soon a violent gale was 
howling through the bending pines, and the Sound 
beneath us became white with foam. For two days 
it blew a hurricane. The fishermen, far from putting 
to sea, were all busy securing their vessels, for there 
was some danger of these being dashed to pieces 
even in this sheltered haven. No such storm had 
been known for some years, and there was much 
loss of life and shipping on the Baltic. 

This made a convert of my friend the fisherman. 

* I shall believe in barometers for the future,' he said. 

* It is very fortunate for us that yesterday's fete 
kept us all in port. Had it taken place two Sundays 
ago, as was originally intended, we should now have 
been off Anholt, where there is no harbour or shelter, 
and I think that many of our vessels and lives would 
have been lost. A few years ago a gale came on 
suddenly like this one, and twenty boats were 
capsized by the seas on the Anholt shoals, and all 
hands were drowned.' Mine was actually the only 
glass in the harbour ; but the accuracy of my fore- 
cast so impressed the Gillelie fishermen that they 
applied to the Danish Government for one of the 
barometers which it supplies to seaports for the 
public use. 



STORM WARNINGS 215 

It need scarcely be pointed out that the storm 
signals, which are hoisted at our principal ports 
whenever the Meteorological Department of the 
Board of Trade gives the warning, must not be 
disregarded. Do not venture to cross the North 
Sea, for example, with your little craft, if any of the 
ominous cones or drums are shown. A cone, when 
hoisted base downwards, indicates the probability of 
a gale from the northward ; an inverted cone (that 
is, a cone having its apex pointing downwards), of a 
gale from the southward ; a drum, of dangerous 
winds from nearly opposite quarters successively ; 
the north cone hoisted over the drum, of dangerous 
winds, first from the northward ; the south cone 
hoisted underneath the drum, of dangerous winds at 
first from the southward.' These warnings and the 
forecasts of the Meteorological Office published in 
the daily papers often give notice of coming dis- 
turbances a considerable time before one's barometer 
on board shows any sign, for they refer to yet far-off 
gales, whose approach to our coasts have been cabled 
from distant stations — for example, from the other 
side of the Atlantic. 

A good many people are apparently under the 
impression that in order to foretell the weather by 
the barometer all one has to do is to see whether 
the glass is high or low, the former condition in- 
dicating fine weather, the latter foul ; and that 
while a rising glass is a sign of an improvement 
in the weather, a falling glass shows that the 



2i6 THE ART OF COASTING 

weather is taking a change for the worse. It is 
true that these rules hold good generally ; but one 
would soon come to grief if one relied implicitly 
upon them when making a long coasting voyage 
with a small yacht. As a matter of fact, a rising 
glass, though usually indicating fine weather, is, in 
certain circumstances, the sign of a strong gale of 
wind. To read the barometer's warnings accurately 
requires a careful study of the meteorological 
conditions ; and every yachtsman should provide 
himself with one of the handbooks published on 
this subject. 

A barometer merely measures the weight, or 
pressure, of the air, and shows by its rising and 
falling whether the pressure is increasing or dimin- 
ishing. The air naturally has a tendency to flow 
from a region where the pressure is greater to a 
region where it is less, producing a wind in that 
direction. Consequently, if the glass stands steadily 
for some time at what is its average height in that 
portion of the globe (in England the average height 
of the glass, at sea-level, is about thirty inches) it 
is a sign that no great atmospheric changes are 
taking place, the pressure being evenly distributed, 
and that, therefore, there will be but moderate winds 
and settled weather. On the other hand, a consider- 
able rise or fall (more especially the latter) of the 
glass, above or below the average height, indicates 
a great unevenness in the atmospheric pressure, 
and hence gales may be expected to restore the 



THERMOMETER AND BAROMETER 217 

equilibrium. When the glass falls to twenty-nine 
inches there is a certainty of bad weather. 

It is not possible to arrive at a reliable forecast 
with the barometer alone. In order to foretell the 
nature of the change of weather indicated by a 
moving glass, that is, in order to ascertain from 
which quarter the wind may be expected to come, 
whether it will be accompanied by rain or snow, 
and so forth, one must take into consideration, in 
conjunction with the barometer readings, the existing 
meteorological conditions — the temperature of the 
air, the amount of moisture in the air, and the 
direction and force of the wind blowing at the time. 
It is not necessary to provide oneself with an 
instrument for testing the amount of moisture in 
the air, and a hygrometer seldom forms part of the 
equipment of the small yacht, as good forecasts can 
be made without its assistance ; but a thermometer 
must always be carried at sea to supplement the 
information given by one's aneroid. 

In our latitudes the thermometer rises with winds 
from south round by south-east to east, and falls 
with winds from north round by north-west to 
west. 

Air charged with vapour is lighter than dry air ; 
and heated air, being more rarified, is lighter than 
cold air. It therefore follows that, other conditions 
remaining unchanged, either an increase of moisture 
or an increase of temperature will cause the baro- 
meter to fall ; while drier weather, or a fall in the 



2i8 THE ART OF COASTING 

temperature, will cause the barometer to rise. Thus 
it is that the glass falls lowest with the rainy warm 
south-westerly winds ; and rises highest with winds 
from the north-east, which are both cold and dry. 
Thus, too, if the barometer falls considerably, while 
the thermometer indicates a low temperature for the 
time of the year, the wind will probably come from 
a northerly direction ; whereas, if the barometer is 
falling, with the temperature of the air high for 
the time of the year, southerly winds may be 
expected. 

With the degree of moisture, the temperature of 
the air and the direction of the wind remaining 
unchanged, a fall of the glass indicates an increase 
of the force of the wind from the same direction. 

These are Admiral Fitzroy's two general rules for 
barometer readings in our latitudes : — 

The barometer rises for northerly wind (including 
from N.W. by the N. to E.), for dry or less wet 
weather, for less wind, or for more than one of 
these changes ; except on a few occasions, when 
rain or snow comes from the north, with strong 
wind. 

The barometer falls for south wind (including 
from S.E. by the S. to W.), for wet weather, 
for stronger wind, or for more than one of these 
changes, except on a few occasions, when moderate 
wind, with rain or snow, comes from the north- 
ward. 

The following are among the most important 



BAROMETRIC FORECASTS 219 

of the rules that have been laid down by meteor- 
ologists :■ — 

As the barometer is affected by the direction of 
the wind, the degree of moisture in the air and the 
force of the wind, the greatest rise or fall of the glass 
will occur when these act in conjunction. 

The barometer is lowest for wind and rain 
together, as with a south-west gale, and also when 
a thaw succeeding a frost saturates the air with 
moisture. 

The barometer is highest with cold and dry north- 
east winds, when the air is at its heaviest, and also 
during severe frost. 

A sudden rise or fall of the barometer indicates 
a change in the weathe;* that will not last long. 
But if the glass rises or falls steadily for several 
days, there will be a long continuance of whatever 
change of the weather is coming. As the sailors 
put it : * Long foretold, long last ; short warning, 
soon past.* 

A barometer at about thirty inches, steady or 
rising, with temperature falling and moisture de- 
creasing, indicates wind from the north-west round 
by north to north-east, or less wind. A falling 
barometer, with temperature rising and moisture 
increasing, indicates wind and rain, or snow, from 
the south-east round by south to the south-west. 

It is important to remember that the wind usually 
veers with the sun — that is, in the Northern Hemi- 
sphere, from left to right. An easterly wind, for 



220 THE ART OF COASTING 

example, changes to west through S.E., S., and 
S.W. If it backs round the other way* -that is, 
through N.E., N., and N.W. — this is nearly always 
a sign of bad weather. 

In order to obtain as reliable a forecast as possible, 
one should compare the conclusions arrived at from 
one's observation of the barometer, thermometer, 
and hygrometer, with the warnings given by the 
appearance of the heavens, and other natural pheno- 
mena. If the latter corroborate the former, one 
may be confident that one's prognostications are 
pretty correct. The weather-wisdom of the mariner 
consists in his true reading of these signs, of which 
a few of the most important will now be given. 

A grey sky in the morning is a sign of fine 
weather; a high dawn, of wind. A red sky at 
sunset presages fine weather; a red sky in the 
morning, bad weather. Soft-looking clouds foretell 
fine weather with moderate winds ; hard-edged, oily- 
looking clouds, and ragged clouds, foretell wind. 
A bright yellow sky at sunset indicates the ap- 
proach of wind ; a pale yellow or a greenish sky, 
rain. A dark blue sky presages wind ; a light blue 
sky, fine weather. A great clearness of the atmo- 
sphere near the horizon, with distant objects raised 
by reflection, signifies rain, and possibly wind. A 
halo round the moon, if appearing distant though 
distinct, indicates wind, and probably rain. Dew is, 
an indication of fine weather. 

A phosphorescent sea at night ; the presence of 



SKY FORECASTS 221 

great numbers of jelly-fish in the water ; and shoals 
of herrings playing on the surface, indicate a con- 
tinuance of fine warm weather with light winds. 
When porpoises are seen gambolling close to shore, 
and when they ascend tidal rivers, or when sea-birds 
fly inland, stormy weather is to be expected. 



CHAPTER XI 

DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

Taking the departure by cross-bearings— Underbowing the tide — 
Ascertaining one's position at sea — Current sailing — Making a 
landfall — Employment of the ground-log— Running for shelter. 

In the last chapter I have shown how, by the use 
of charts, lead-line, log, calculation of the tides, etc., 
the mariner is enabled to direct his course along the 
coast and find his way when out of sight of land. 
In the present chapter I propose to make this more 
clear by conducting the reader on an imaginary 
voyage from one port to another, across a broad 
channel. 

Fig. 69 roughly represents a portion of an ordinary 
chart, the soundings and other numerous details 
which appear on a chart being omitted. We will 
suppose that our little vessel is lying at anchor off 
the port at X^ in the lower left-hand corner of the 
chart, and that it is our object to cross to the oppo- 
site coast and sail into the estuary Z", which is to 
the north-east of us. We have been for some days 
awaiting a * slant ' ; and now, at last, our barometer, 
the weather forecast in the papers, and the appear- 
ance of the sky indicate settled fine weather, so we 



A CHART COURSE 



223 



decide to start. It is true that, according to the 
vane, the wind will be right in our teeth ; but ours 





;// 

1^ 


•'-'/.„ 


1 




_____ 


,'-' 




■^•»_ 


^/ ■ 






-^ ''■ / 




■A'^ 


' // 


\ 







Fig. 69. 



is a weatherly boat, the breeze is fresh and steady, 
and if we work our tides scientifically we ought to 
be able to make the passage in twelve hours. 

It is early morning, the last of the ebb running 



224 DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

out, when we weigh our anchor. We commence our 
cruise with a long turn to windward down the bay. 
On scanning our chart we note that extensive shoals, 
whose edges are marked by buoys, hem in the 
navigable channel on either side, and that we have 
to keep the conical buoys on our port hand and the 
flat-topped on our starboard, in order to avoid running 
aground. So we take care not to stand on too long 
on either tack, but go about in time, keeping well 
within the warning marks ; and, at last, having got 
clear of all dangers, we are well outside the bay, 
in deep water, at some distance from the land, but 
with the landmarks on shore still clearly visible. 

Now is the time to take our departure, as it is 
called ; that is, we will determine, before losing 
sight of land, our exact position, noting the time 
of the observation. It is from these data that we 
shall make our future calculations to ascertain our 
position, when on the open sea, with no land in 
sight. There are various ways of taking a departure. 
In the present instance we will take it by cross- 
bearings. On looking back towards the coast we 
perceive two well-known landmarks which are in- 
dicated on our chart — the lighthouse at .^ and the 
church at B. With the compass we take the bearings 
of these and find that A bears S. by E. of us, 
and B W.S.W. Our compass has no deviation, 
else we should now have to correct these bearings 
according to the rules already explained ; and as 
the compass design on the chart is magnetic and not 



AN AZIMUTH COMPASS 22s 

true^ we have no correction to make for variation. 
With our parallel rules we now work these bearings 
successively across the chart from the compass 
design to A and B^ and from these points we draw 
two lines in the direction of the bearings. Where 
these lines cut each other, at C, is the exact position 
of our vessel at the time we took the bearings. We 
next measure the distance from the ship to either 
landmark or to our port, with the dividers, reading 
off the number of miles on the graduated meridian, 
or on the scale of miles printed on the chart. 

When taking cross-bearings in this way, select 
such a position that the angle between them is as 
nearly as possible 90° ; for the larger or the smaller 
than 90° the angle is, the greater will be the error 
in position caused by a slight error in taking a 
bearing. 

An azimuth compass is a compass specially ar- 
ranged for the observation of bearings. A moveable 
ring is fitted on the outside of the compass-bowl, 
having two sight- vanes exactly opposite each other. 
Each vane has a vertical slit in it, the slit in one 
being wider than that in the other, and having a 
horsehair stretched vertically across it. By turning 
the sight-vanes in the direction of the object and 
looking at it through both slits, a bearing can be 
taken with great accuracy. Azimuth compasses are 
not often carried on small yachts ; but an ordinary 
steering compass can be made to serve for an 
azimuth by removing the cover from the binnacle 

P 



226 DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

and laying an improvised azimuth ring on the top 
of the compass-bowl. A flat brass ring with two 
vertical pins at opposite sides of it will answer this 
purpose very well. Even without this, one can take 
a sufficiently correct bearing by looking along a 
pencil or a piece of string held across the centre of 
the compass and directed towards the object. 

Having ascertained our position, it behoves us to 
consider how we shall set to work to sail our boat 
to its destination as rapidly as possible. When sail- 
ing for a port to windward, it is the general rule to 
keep on that tack on which the vessel looks up best 
for her port — that is, the tack which makes the 
direction in which she is heading and the bearing 
of her port form the smaller angle. As soon as 
she has reached a position which makes the other 
tack the most favourable, she should be put about. 
By following this plan no change of wind can place 
the vessel in a worse position ; indeed, any change 
will be in her favour ; whereas, if one stand on long 
on the tack on which she looks up worse to her 
port, a shift of wind may put her dead to leeward 
of her destination, and she will have lost instead 
of having gained ground. 

But in the case before us, as I have already said, 
the wind is right ahead — that is, from the N.E. — so 
that we would look up for our port equally well on 
either tack. However, on studying the tide-tables 
and the chart, we find that the flood-tide is now 
beginning to make, and is setting in the direction 



UNDERBOWING THE TIDE 227 

of the arrow on the chart — that is, north (magnetic). 
This decides us to lay our vessel on the port tack ; 
for by doing so we underbow the tide, as it is called — 
that is, we cause it to serve us by making it set the 
vessel, broadside on, to windward ; so that though, 
while sailing close-hauled, her course through the 
water is about east, she is really travelling over the 
ground in a direction considerably to the north of 
east — that is, much more directly for her port than 
she would do on the starboard tack. 

So having taken our departure at (7, we sail away 
on the port tack and soon lose sight of land. As 
we have a long passage before us, and we wish to 
cross the Channel without delay, we must sail oui* 
vessel a good full and bye— that is, we must take care 
not to keep her too close up to the wind, with sails 
ever on the shake ; neither must we haul our sheets 
aft over much, to flatten in our sails. For if we fall 
into these errors we shall discover that, though our 
vessel points up well for her port, she has been so 
pinned down that she will be almost as sluggish 
as a craft that is hove-to ; she will make but slow 
progress, and will drift away to leeward. More 
especially when there is a choppy sea on to deaden 
your vessel's way, keep her ramping full when on 
a passage. 

Having sailed, let us say, for four hours from our 
point of departure Cy and being well out of sight 
of land, we bethink ourselves to once more ascertain 
our whereabouts. We have been steering from C 



228 DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

in an east by north direction — that is, towards D, 
It has already been shown that even a deep-keel 
boat, when close-hauled, is driven away to leeward, 
so that her real direction through the water is at 
an angle with the direction in which she is heading ; 
and that a vessel will make greater leeway if the 
sea be rough. It is easy to measure the amount of 
leeway by looking over the stern and observing the 
vessel's wake — that is, the track she leaves behind 
her in the water ; the angle the wake makes with 
the keel being the angle of leeway. We will sup- 
pose that this angle, in the present case, is about 
one point of the compass. Then our course through 
the water has been one point to leeward of east by 
north — that is, it has been east (magnetic), in the 
direction C Ey which we now lay down with our 
parallel rulers on the chart. Next we calculate 
(having hove the log occasionally, or having made 
a rough estimate by looking over the side) how 
many miles we have travelled through the water 
since we left the point C, and with the dividers we 
measure out this distance from the scale of miles 
on the chart, and lay it down from C on the line 
of our course, making C E equal to the distance. 
E would then be our present position, had no 
current been running since our start. 

But when we left C the flood-tide was just begin- 
ning to make, and has been setting us in a northerly 
direction for four hours. On reference to the arrow 
on the chart, we find that at half-flood the rate of 



A WEATHER-GOING TIDE 229 

the tide is six miles an hour. In the last chapter 
I have explained that in the open sea at half-flood 
the tide is at its strongest, rising then as much in 
one hour as it does in the first two hours of the 
flood. From this we can therefore calculate that 
the drift of the flood has been about eighteen miles 
during the four hours since we took our departure. 
From E we draw on the chart a line parallel to 
the arrow which indicates the direction of the cur- 
rent, and with the dividers we measure out upon 
it, from the scale of miles on the chart, E F equal 
to eighteen miles. Then F is our true position, 
and C F \^ the distance we have made. What we 
have gained by putting our vessel on the port tack, 
and so underbowing th^ tide, now becomes very 
apparent ; for our true course has been north-easterly, 
that is, we have travelled over the ground right in 
the teeth of the wind and directly for our destina- 
tion, being now about half-way to it ; whereas, had 
we laid the yacht on the starboard tack, we should 
in the same time have only reached the point F. 

Supposing that the wind had been favourable for 
our port when we left (7, we should have employed 
the following method of ascertaining the course to 
be steered so as to make allowance for current. Let 
L in the diagram, at the foot of Fig. 69, represent 
the vessel's point of departure, and let P be her 
destination. With the dividers we take from the 
scale of miles the number of miles the current runs 
in one hour, and lay this distance down from L to 



230 DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

N^ making L N parallel to the direction of the 
current. Then we take the number of miles which 
we estimate the vessel will sail in one hour, and 
with this distance as a radius and iV" as a centre 
describe a circle. We join M^ the point where this 
circle cuts the line L P^ with N, and from L we 
draw L equal and parallel to N M. L O is the 
direction in which we must steer to keep the vessel 
on the line L P, and also represents the distance 
that must be sailed in order to reach M. 

In the above example, the current affects the 
ship's course as well as her rate of progress 
over the ground. If the current's drift is in the 
same direction as the ship's apparent course there 
is no alteration of her course, but the distance 
travelled will be the sum of the distance logged 
and the number of miles of the current's drift ; and 
if the two are in opposite directions, it will be the 
difference between these. Thus, had we sailed from 
C on the starboard tack, we should have travelled 
over the ground in the direction we were heading — 
that is, north ; and C Y, the distance we should have 
made, would have been equal to C E plus E F. 

I have taken it for granted, in this description 
of our proceedings, that the flood-tide preserves a 
uniform northerly set. This, by the way, is unlikely 
to be the case. In the open sea the tide, as a rule, 
runs in different directions at different hours of the 
flood — for example, setting north at half-flood and 
north-east at the fourth hour, — and this difference 



MAKING A LANDFALL 231 

of direction, if considerable, must be taken into 
account. 

Having ascertained our position at Fy we decide 
to keep the vessel on the same tack ; not only 
because the flood is still making, and we can con- 
tinue to underbow the tide, but also because it will 
be advisable to get hold of the land before the tide 
turns ; then, in case the wind falls light, we can 
anchor until the next flood, and not lose the ground 
we have made. We know that the flood-stream 
is already slacking ; consequently we must not 
expect to do quite so well as we have so far done ; 
our true course will no longer be north-east, straight 
for our port, but will be a good deal to the eastward 
of this. 

The wind holds, and at last we sight the opposite 
coast, sail on until we are a few miles off the shore 
and recognise a landmark, the tower G, over our 
starboard bow ; so we have made a landfall, as we 
expected we should do, considerably to the south- 
ward of the estuary for which we are bound. Our 
tide-tables show us that it is now high-water, and that 
we shall shortly have the ebb-stream setting to the 
south dead against us. It is important to remember, 
by the way, that the time of high- water is very rarely 
the time at which the stream alters its direction. 
As a rule, the flood-stream runs for a considerable 
time after high-water, while the ebb-stream likewise 
often runs long after the tide has commenced to 
rise. But on this occasion we satisfy ourselves that 



232 DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

the flood-stream has quite spent itself at the spot 
where we are ; for when we look carefully at a tree 
or some other object which is directly ahead of us 
on the shore, we observe that it does not alter its 
bearings as we near it, or only does so to an extent 
that our leeway will account for. It follows, there- 
fore, that our vessel is not being affected by any 
current, and that it is slack water. 

After studying the conditions we decide to stand 
in as near as we safely can, and then to go about. 
By doing this we will cheat the ebb-stream when 
it begins to make itself felt; for we know that 
hereabouts the tides, as is often the case, do not 
run nearly so rapidly in the shoal-water under the 
land as they do outside. Moreover, a look at the 
chart shows us that we shall be able on the star- 
board tack to fetch the mouth of our river without 
having to go about again and so lose ground by 
bringing the contrary current broadside on to us. 

But our chart indicates submerged rocky patches, 
which make it perilous to approach within a certain 
distance of the shore, so we must now take cross- 
bearings again to ascertain our position, and enable 
us to give these dangers a sufficiently wide berth. 
We took our departure at C by cross-bearings of 
two well-known landmarks, which is the most accu- 
rate method : but it happens that on this portion 
of the coast there are no two landmarks whose 
positions are shown on the chart ; we must, there- 
fore, adopt another method. 



TAKING BEARINGS FOR DISTANCE 233 

If we take a bearing of an object, sail for a known 
distance in a known direction, and then take another 
bearing of it, the distance we have made and the 
two bearings form a triangle of which we know the 
value of the angles, and of one of the sides ; con- 
sequently by constructing this triangle on a sheet of 
paper we can easily estimate the length of the other 
sides and our distance from the object. The simplest 
method of finding one's position by taking two bear- 
ings of the same object is the one we shall adopt in 
the present instance. In the first place, having stood 
on as far as we prudently can on the port tack, we 
go about, and find that our vessel on the starboard 
tack heads up due north, sailing parallel to the coast. 
We now take a bearing o( some object on the shore, 
selecting one that is over our bows and not abreast 
or astern of us. In this case the tower G will answer 
our purpose very well. We observe the angle that 
this bearing makes with our course, and we sail on 
until this angle is doubled ; then the number of 
miles we have sailed since taking the first bearing 
is our present distance from G. Thus, when we 
tack ship at K, we find that G bears north-east of 
us, and therefore G K H^ the angle between this 
bearing and the northerly course we now pursue, 
equals four points of the compass, or 45°. We sail 
on to H when G bears due east of us, so that GHZ, 
the angle between the bearing and our course, has 
doubled, being eight points, or 90°. Consequently, 
as any schoolboy can explain to us from his Euclid, 



234 DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

the line H K Is equal to H G — that is, our present 
distance from G is the number of miles we have 
made while sailing from K to H, allowance having, 
of course, been made for the set and drift of the 
current. 

As a rule, cross-bearings taken in this way are 
not nearly so reliable as those taken of two objects 
from one position, in the manner already explained ; 
for unless we have an accurate knowledge of the 
local currents, we can only approximately calculate 
the true distance and course made by the vessel in 
the interval between taking the two bearings. But 
in the present case, as we happen to be sailing 
slowly and are in shallow water, we are enabled 
by employing what is termed the ground -log to 
gauge with great precision the effect of any stream 
that may be running, and to lay down our exact 
position on the chart. To effect this we attach our 
ordinary log-line to our hand-lead and heave it over 
the stern. We then reel out the line and employ 
the log-glass just as we would do when heaving 
the log-ship ; but the lead, instead of being sus- 
pended in the water, as is the log-ship during the 
operation, remains fixed on the bottom ; and there- 
fore, when we read off the knots we are making, 
we ascertain not our rate through the water^ as is 
the case when we employ the log -ship, but our 
speed over the ground. The direction in which the 
line leads over the stern indicates the direction in 
which we are moving over the ground, forming an 



IN A TIDAL RIVER 235 

angle with our keel if the current is not exactly 
with or against us, or if we are making leeway. 

Having now reached the position H, and having 
satisfied ourselves, after a glance at the chart, that 
there are no more rocky patches ahead to pick us 
up, we sail on as near to the wind as we can without 
pinning the vessel down too much, and edge in 
towards the shore, so as to avoid the strength of the 
ebb stream, which is now running south. At last 
we enter the estuary, and as current and wind are 
both unfavourable for the ascent of the river, we are 
compelled to come to an anchor and wait the turn 
of the tide. 

We should probably have acted thus had the wind 
been fair, for we are not familiar with the some- 
what dangerous mouth of this river, though we know 
that its channel winds among great shoals which are 
but badly marked with occasional poles. At this 
stage of the tide (the ebb, we will suppose, has been 
running for two hours) all these shoals are still 
covered and the channel is difficult to find, so that 
if we endeavour to sail up we shall most probably 
run ashore before we get far, and be left high and 
dry amid the mud-banks by the receding tide — 
always an undignified position. On the other hand, 
if we remain at anchor until low water, we can 
easily, without running the risk of getting stuck in 
the mud for hours, pick our way up the river on the 
beginning of the flood ; for then the shoals are 
uncovered, and the channels between them are 



236 DESCRIPTION OF A VOYAGE 

clearly defined. We cannot well miss our way, and 
even if we do run aground, the rising tide will soon 
float us off. 

I have taken it for granted that we have had fine 
weather during our voyage, for the management of a 
small yacht in heavy weather is a subject that has 
already been dealt with in another chapter. But 
there is one matter to which I should like to make 
reference here. If there is a good harbour under 
our lee we should of course, as a rule, run for it 
when overtaken by a gale ; but if we are off a 
dangerous coast, with only small and difficult har- 
bours or river-mouths under our lee, with which we 
are not acquainted, whose leading marks do not 
appear on our chart, and into which it would be 
hazardous to try to find our way without a pilot, it 
is often the more prudent course not to seek shelter, 
but to ride out the gale on the .open sea as one best 
can, hove-to under storm canvas or riding to a deep- 
sea anchor. I was once cruising with a friend who 
was a fairly good fore-and-aft sailor, but who got 
scared on one occasion when we were on a lee-shore 
and it came on to blow hard. He was anxious to run 
blindly for the mouth of a narrow river obstructed by 
a dangerous and often-shifting bar (on which the sea 
was breaking heavily at the time), with the passage 
across which neither of us was acquainted. He 
called this prudence, but it was in truth the rashness 
of panic. I knew that we should in all probability 
lose our vessel if we made the attempt he proposed, 



KEEPING AT SEA 237 

and I insisted on keeping to the open sea. We 
close-reefed our little vessel, and, facing the gale, 
put her at it, got a good offing by sailing for some 
distance on the tack which took her best away from 
the land, and then hove her to. She rode the gale 
out beautifully, and next morning my friend had to 
confess that mine had been the most prudent plan 
after all. But safer still is it, when cruising with a 
small craft, to do as I have already recommended, 
that is, to so watch the weather forecasts and the 
glass, that one never allows oneself to be surprised 
by a strong gale when at a long distance from a 
secure harbour. 




Off the Cornish Coast. 



CHAPTER XII 

BOARD OF TRADE AND OTHER REGULATIONS 
AFFECTING YACHTSMEN 

Lights — Fog-signals — Rules of the road — Distress and pilot signals — 
Custom-House clearance — Ship's papers — Admiralty warrants — 
Owner's yachting certificate — Relations between owner and crew 
— Log-book — Insurance. 

He who undertakes to command even the smallest 
craft should thoroughly master the rules of the road 
at sea, else he will soon find himself in difficulties, 
and will endanger the lives and property of himself 
and others. Knowledge of the law is presumed ; 
ignorance of it is no defence ; and any one who 
unwittingly infringes one of the Board of Trade 
regulations is liable to a penalty of ;£"20, even if 
the infringement has caused no damage. 

The Admiralty and Board of Trade have recently 
framed revised regulations for preventing collisions 
at sea ; these differ in several important respects 
from the old rules, and came into force on July i, 
1897. The yachtsman, as master of a sailing vessel, 
is concerned not only with the rules (as to carrying 
lights, etc.) to be observed by himself, but also with 
the rules applying to steamers, tugs, towing-vessels. 



BOARD OF TRADE RULES 239 

fishing-boats, and disabled craft ; for he must be 
familiar with these in order that he may understand 
the signals and movements of the vessels and so 
avoid collision. It is unnecessary in a work of this 
description to compare the new regulations with 
the old. That has been admirably done, by the 
way, from the legal point of view as well as from 
the sailor's, by Mr. H. Stewart Moore in his work 
on the subject published by J. D. Potter. 
The following are the new regulations : — 

PRELIMINARY. 

These rules shall be followed by all vessels upon the 
high seas and in all waters connected therewith, navigable 
by sea-going vessels. 

In the following rules every steam vessel which is under 
sail and not under steam is to be considered a sailing 
vessel, and every vessel under steam, whether under sail 
or not, is to be considered a steam vessel. 

The word ' steam vessel ' shall include any vessel pro- 
pelled by machinery {e.g, electric launches). 

A vessel is 'under way' within the meaning of these 
rules, when she is not at anchor, or made fast to the shore, 
or aground. 

RULES CONCERNING LIGHTS, ETC. 

The word 'visible' in these rules, when applied to 
lights, shall mean visible on a dark night with a clear 
atmosphere. 

Art. I. The rules concerning lights shall be complied 
with in all weathers from sunset to sunrise, and during 
such time no other lights which may be mistaken for the 
prescribed lights shall be exhibited. 



240 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

Art. 2. A steam vessel when under way shall carry — 
{a) On, or in front of the foremast, or if a vessel without 
a foremast then in the fore part of the vessel, at a height 
above the hull of not less than 20 feet, and if the breadth 
of the vessel exceeds 20 feet, then at a height above the 
hull not less than such breadth, so, however, that the light 
need not be carried at a greater height above the hull than 
40 feet, a bright white light, so constructed as to show an 
unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 20 points of 
the compass, so fixed as to throw the light 10 points on 
each side of the vessel, viz. from right ahead to two points 
abaft the beam on either side, and of such a character as 
to be visible at a distance of at least five miles. 

{b) On the starboard side a green light so constructed 
as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 
10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light 
from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the star- 
board side, and of such a character as to be visible at a 
distance of at least two miles. 

(c) On the port side a red light so constructed as to 
show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 
points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from 
right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the port side, 
and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at 
least two miles. 

(d) The said green and red side-lights shall be fitted 
with inboard screens projecting at least three feet forward 
from the light, so as to prevent these lights from being 
seen across the bow. 

(<f) A steam vessel when under way may carry an 
additional white light similar in construction to the light 
mentioned in subdivision (a). These two lights shall be 
so placed in line with the keel that one shall be at least 
15 feet higher than the other, and in such a position with 
reference to each other that the lower light shall be 



TOWING LIGHTS 241 

forward of the upper one. The vertical distance between 
these lights shall be less than the horizontal distance. 

Art. 3. A steam vessel when towing another vessel 
shall, in addition to her side-lights, carry two bright 
white lights in a vertical line one over the other, not 
less than six feet apart, and when towing more than one 
vessel shall carry an additional bright white light six feet 
above or below such lights, if the length of the tow, 
measuring from the stern of the towing vessel to the 
stern of the last vessel towed, exceeds 600 feet. Each 
of these lights shall be of the same construction and 
character, and shall be carried in the same position, as 
the white light mentioned in Article 2 (a), except the 
additional light, which may be carried at a height of not 
less than 14 feet above the hull. 

Such steam vessel may carry a small white light abaft 
the funnel or aftermast for the vessel towed to steer by, 
but such light shall not be visible forward of the beam. 

Art. 4 (a). A vessel whicn from any accident is not 
under command shall carry, at the same height as the 
white light mentioned in Article 2 (a) where they can 
best be seen (and, if a steam vessel, in lieu of that light), 
two red lights, in a vertical line one over the other, not 
less than six feet apart, and of such a character as to be 
visible all round the horizon at a distance of at least two 
miles ; and shall by day carry in a vertical line one over 
the other, not less than six feet apart, where they can best 
be seen, two black balls or shapes each two feet in diameter. 

(d) A vessel employed in laying or in picking up a 
telegraph cable shall carry in the same position as the 
white light mentioned in Article 2 (a), (and, if a steam 
vessel, in lieu of that light), three lights in a vertical line 
one over the other, not less than six feet apart. The 
highest and lowest of these lights shall be red, and the 
middle light shall be white, and they shall be of such 
a character as to be visible all round the horizon at a 

Q 



242 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

distance of at least two miles. By day she shall carry in 
a vertical line one over the other, not less than six feet 
apart, where they can best be seen, three shapes not less 
than two feet in diameter, of which the highest and lowest 
shall be globular in shape and red in colour, and the 
middle one diamond in shape and white. 

{c) The vessels referred to in this Article, when not 
making way through the water, shall not carry the side- 
lights, but when making way shall carry them. 

{d) The lights and shapes required to be shown by this 
Article are to be taken by other vessels as signals that the 
vessel showing them is not under command, and cannot 
therefore get out of the way. 

These signals are not signals of vessels in distress 
and requiring assistance. Such signals are contained in 
Article 31. 

Art. 5. A sailing vessel under way, and any vessel 
being towed, shall carry the same lights as are prescribed 
by Article 2 for a steam vessel under way, with the 
exception of the white lights mentioned therein, which 
they shall never carry. 

Art. 6. Whenever, as in the case of small vessels under 
way during bad weather, the green and red side-lights can- 
not be fixed, these lights shall be kept at hand lighted and 
ready for use ; and shall, on the approach of or to other 
vessels, be exhibited on their respective sides in sufficient 
time to prevent collision, in such manner as to make them 
most visible, and so that the green light shall not be seen 
on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side, 
nor, if practicable, more than two points abaft the beam on 
their respective sides. 

To make the use of these portable lights more certain 
and easy, the lanterns containing them shall each be 
painted outside with the colour of the light they respec- 
tively contain, and shall be provided with proper screens. 

Art. 7. Steam vessels of less than 40, and vessels under 



STEAMER LIGHTS 243 

oars or sails of less than 20, tons gross tonnage respectively, 
and rowing boats, when under way, shall not be obliged to 
carry the lights mentioned in Article 2 («), (b), and (^), 
but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with 
the following lights : — 

1. Steam vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry: — 

(a) In the fore part of the vessel, or on or in front of 
the funnel, where it can best be seen, and at 
a height above the gunwale of not less than 
nine feet, a bright white light constructed and 
fixed as prescribed in Article 2 (a), and of such 
a character as to be visible at a distance of at 
least two miles. 

{b) Green and red side-lights constructed and fixed 
as prescribed in Article 2 (b) and {c\ and of 
such a character as to be visible at a distance 
of at least one mile, or a combined lantern 
showing a green light and a red light from right 
ahead to two points abaft the beam on their 
respective sides. Such lantern shall be carried 
not less than three feet below the white light. 

2. Small steamboats, such as are carried by sea-going 
vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 
nine feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above 
the combined lantern mentioned in subdivision i {b). 

3. Vessels under oars or sails, of less than 20 tons, shall 
have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one 
side and a red glass on the other, which, on the approach 
of or to other vessels, shall be exhibited in sufficient time 
to prevent colHsion, so that the green light shall not be 
seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard 
side. 

4. Rowing boats, whether under oars or sails, shall have 
ready at hand a lantern, showing a white light, which shall 
be temporarily exhibited in sufficient time to prevent 
colHsion. 



244 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

The vessels referred to in this Article shall not be 
obliged to carry the lights prescribed by Article 4 {a) and 
Article 11, last paragraph. 

Art. 8. Pilot vessels, when engaged on their station on 
pilotage duty, shall not show the lights required for other 
vessels, but shall carry a white light at the masthead, 
visible all round the horizon, and shall also exhibit a 
flare-up light or flare-up lights at short intervals, which 
shall never exceed 15 minutes. 

On the near approach of or to other vessels they shall 
have their side-lights lighted, ready for use, and shall flash 
or show them at short intervals, to indicate the direction 
in which they are heading ; but the green light shall not be 
shown on the port side, nor the red light on the starboard side. 

A pilot vessel of such a class as to be obliged to go 
alongside of a vessel to put a pilot on board, may show 
the white light instead of carrying it at the masthead, and 
may, instead of the coloured lights above mentioned, have 
at hand, ready for use, a lantern with a green glass on the 
one side and a red glass on the other, to be used as 
prescribed above. 

Pilot vessels, when not engaged on their station on 
pilotage duty, shall carry lights similar to those of other 
vessels of their tonnage. 

Art. 9. This Article, which will deal with the regula- 
tions affecting fishing-boats, will be the subject of a future 
Order in Council. For the present, the corresponding 
Article (Art. 10) of the old rules remains in force. It 
applies only to fishing vessels and boats when in the sea, 
off the coast of Europe lying north of Cape Finisterre. 
The following is a summary of its regulations : — 

{a) All fishing-boats of 20 tons net registered tonnage 
or upwards, when under way, and when not required by the 
following regulations in this Article to carry and show the 
lights therein named, shall carry and show the same lights 
as other vessels under way. 



FISHING LIGHTS 245 

(J?) and {c) All vessels when engaged with drift-nets, or 
employed in line-fishing with their lines out, shall exhibit 
two white lights, placed so that the vertical distance 
between them shall be not less than six feet and not more 
than ten feet, and so that the horizontal distance between 
them shall be not less than five feet and not more than 
ten feet. The lower of these two lights shall be the more 
forward, and both of them shall be of such a character, 
and contained in lanterns of such construction, as to show 
all round the horizon on a dark night, with a clear atmo- 
sphere, for a distance of not more than three miles. 

{d) If a vessel, when fishing, becomes stationary, in con- 
sequence of her gear getting fast to a rock or other 
obstruction, she shall show the light and make the fog- 
signal for a vessel at anchor. 

{e) Fishing-vessels, when trawling, dredging, or fishing 
with any kind of drag-net, may use a flare-up in addition 
to the lights prescribed by t^is Article ; the flare-up to be 
shown at the after-part of the vessel, excepting that, if the 
vessel be hanging by the stern to her trawl, dredge, or 
drag-net, it shall be exhibited from her bow. 

{/) In fog, mist, or falling snow, a vessel engaged in 
fishing with trawl-nets, lines, etc., shall, at intervals of not 
more than two minutes, make a blast with her fog-horn 
and ring her bell alternately. 

The following regulations were added by subsequent 
Orders in Council: — A British steam trawler of 20 tons 
register or upwards under steam, with trawl in the water, 
and not being stationary for reasons specified in sub- 
division (^), shall, between sunset and sunrise, either carry 
and show the lights required by Article 2, or shall carry 
and show in lieu thereof, but not in addition thereto, other 
lights of the description set forth below : — On or in front 
of the foremast head, and in the same position as the 
white light which other steamships are required to carry, 
a lanthorn showing a white light ahead, a green light on 



246 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

the starboard side, and a red light on the port side ; such 
lanthorn to be so fixed as to show the white Hght from 
right ahead to two points on the bow on each side of the 
ship, the green light from two points on the starboard 
bow to four points abaft the beam on the starboard side, 
and the red light from two points on the port bow to four 
points abaft the beam on the port side; and (2) a white 
light in a globular lanthorn so constructed as to show a 
light all round the horizon; this lanthorn to be carried 
lower than the lanthorn showing the white, red, and green 
lights as aforesaid, so, however, that the vertical distance 
between them shall not be less than six feet nor more than 
twelve feet. 

British sailing trawlers of 20 tons register or upwards, 
having their trawls in the water and not being stationary, 
shall carry and show the lights required by Article 5, or 
shall carry and show in lieu thereof, but not in addition 
thereto, the following lights : — On or in front of the fore- 
mast-head a lanthorn having a green glass on the starboard 
side, and a red glass on the port side, so arranged that the 
red and green do not converge, and so as to show the 
green light from the right ahead to four points abaft 
the beam on the starboard side, and the red light from 
right ahead to four points abaft the beam on the port 
side ; and (2) a white light in a globular lanthorn similar 
to that mentioned in the last paragraph as carried by the 
steam trawler, and similarly situated. 

Or a white light in a globular lanthorn so constructed 
as to show a light all around the horizon, and visible on a 
dark night, with a clear atmosphere, for a distance of at 
least two miles ; and also a sufficient supply of red pyro- 
technic lights, which shall each burn for at least thirty 
seconds, and shall, when so burning, be visible for the 
same distance under the same conditions as the white 
light. The white light shall be shown from sunset to 
sunrise, and one of the red pyrotechnic lights shall be 



ANCHOR LIGHTS 247 

shown on approaching, or on being approached by, 
another vessel in sufficient time to prevent collision. 

Art. 10. a vessel which is being overtaken by another 
shall show from her stern to such last-mentioned vessel 
a white light or a flare-up light. 

The white light required to be shown by this Article 
may be fixed and carried in a lantern, but in such case 
the lantern shall be so constructed, fitted, and screened 
that it shall throw an unbroken light over an arc of the 
horizon of twelve points of the compass, viz. from six points 
from right aft on each side of the vessel, so as to be 
visible at a distance of at least one mile. Such light shall 
be carried as nearly as practicable on the same level as 
the side-lights. 

Art. II. A vessel under 150 feet in length, when at 
anchor, shall carry forward where it can best be seen, but 
at a height not exceeding 20 feet above the hull, a white 
light in a lantern so constr,ucted as to show a clear, uni- 
form, and unbroken light, visible all round the horizon at 
the distance of at least one mile. 

A vessel of 150 feet or upwards in length, when at 
anchor, shall carry in the forward part of the vessel, at a 
height of not less than 20, and not exceeding 40, feet 
above the hull, one such light, and at or near the stern of 
the vessel, and at such a height that it shall be not less 
than 15 feet lower than the forward light, another such light. 

The length of a vessel shall be deemed to be the length 
appearing in her certificate of registry. 

A vessel aground in or near a fairway shall carry the 
above light or lights, and the two red lights prescribed by 
Article 4 (a). 

Art. 12. Every vessel may, if necessary, in order to 
attract attention, in addition to the lights which she is by 
these rules required to carry, show a flare-up light, or 
use any detonating signal that cannot be mistaken for a 
distress signal. 



248 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

Art. 13. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the 
operation of any special rules made by the Government of 
any nation with respect to additional station and signal 
lights for two or more ships of war, or for vessels sailing 
under convoy, or with the exhibition of recognition signals 
adopted by shipowners, which have been authorised by 
their respective Governments, and duly registered and 
published. 

Art. 14. A steam vessel proceeding under sail only, 
but having her funnel up, shall carry in daytime, forward, 
where it can best be seen, one black ball or shape two feet 
in diameter. 

SOUND SIGNALS FOR FOG, ETC. 

Art. 15. All signals prescribed by this Article for 
vessels under way shall be given : 

1. By ' steam vessels ' on the whistle or siren. 

2. By 'sailing vessels and vessels towed' on the fog- 
horn. 

The words ' prolonged blast ' used in this Article shall 
mean a blast of from four to six minutes' duration. 

A steam vessel shall be provided with an efficient whistle 
or siren, sounded by steam or some substitute for steam, 
so placed that the sound may not be intercepted by any 
obstruction, and with an efficient fog-horn, to be sounded 
by mechanical means, and also with an efficient bell. A 
sailing vessel of 20 tons gross tonnage or upwards shall be 
provided with a similar fog-horn and bell. 

In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain-storms, whether 
by day or night, the signals described in this Article shall 
be used as follows, viz. : — 

{a) A steam vessel having way upon her shall sound, at 
intervals of not more than two minutes, a prolonged blast. 

{b) A steam vessel under way, but stopped and having 
no way upon her, shall sound, at intervals of not more 



FOG SIGNALS 249 

than two minutes, two prolonged blasts, with an interval of 
about one second between them. 

(c) A sailing vessel under way shall sound, at intervals 
of not more than one minute, when on the starboard tack 
one blast, when oh the port tack two blasts in succession, 
and when with the wind abaft the beam three blasts in 
succession. 

{d) A vessel, vv^hen at anchor, shall, at intervals of not 
more than one minute, ring the bell rapidly for about 
five seconds. 

(<?) A vessel when towing, a vessel employed in laying 
or picking up a telegraph cable, and a vessel under way, 
which is unable to get out of the way of an approaching 
vessel through being not under command, or unable to 
manoeuvre as required by these rules, shall, instead of the 
signals prescribed in subdivisions {a) and {c) of this Article, 
at intervals of not more than two minutes sound three 
blasts in succession, viz. one 'prolonged blast followed by 
two short blasts. A vessel towed may give this signal, 
and she shall not give any other. 

Sailing vessels and boats of less than 20 tons gross 
tonnage shall not be obliged to give the above-mentioned 
signals, but if they do not, they shall make some other 
efficient sound signal at intervals of not more than one 
minute. 

SPEED OF SHIPS TO BE MODERATE IN FOG, ETC. 

Art. 16. Every vessel shall, in a fog, mist, falling snow, 
or heavy rain-storms, go at a moderate speed, having care- 
ful regard to the existing circumstances and conditions. 

A steam vessel hearing, apparently forward of her beam, 
the fog-signal of a vessel the position of which is not 
ascertained, shall, so far as the circumstances of the case 
admit, stop her engines, and then navigate with caution 
until danger of collision is over. 

Q * 



250 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 



STEERING AND SAILING RULES. 

PRELIMINARY — RISKS OF COLLISION. 

Risk of collision can, when circumstances permit, be 
ascertained by carefully watching the compass-bearing of 
an approaching vessel. If the bearing does not appreci- 
ably change, such risk should be deemed to exist. 

Art. 17. When two sailing vessels are approaching one 
another, so as to involve risk of collision, one of them 
shall keep out of the way of the other as follows, viz. : — 

{a) A vessel which is running free shall keep out of the 
way of a vessel which is close-hauled. 

{b) A vessel which is close-hauled on the port tack 
shall keep out of the way of a vessel which is close-hauled 
on the starboard tack. 

(c) When both are running free, with the wind on 
different sides, the vessel which has the wind on the port 
side shall keep out of the way of the other. 

(d) When both are running free, with the wind on the 
same side, the vessel which is to windward shall keep out 
of the way of the vessel which is to leeward. 

(e) A vessel which has the wind aft shall keep out of 
the way of the other vessel. 

Art. 18. When two steam vessels are meeting end on, 
or nearly end on, so as to involve risk of collision, each 
shall alter her course to starboard, so that each may pass 
on the port side of the other. 

This Article does not apply to two vessels which must, 
if both keep on their respective courses, pass clear of each 
other. 

The only cases to which it does apply are when each of 
the two vessels is end on, or nearly end on, to the other : 
in other words, to cases in which, by day, each vessel sees 
the masts of the other in a line, or nearly in a line with 



STEERING RULES 251 

her own ; and by night, to cases in which each vessel is in 
such a position as to see both the side-Hghts of the 
other. 

It does not apply, by day, to cases in which a vessel 
sees another ahead crossing her own course ; or by night, 
to cases where the red light of one vessel is opposed to 
the red light of the other, or where the green light of one 
vessel is opposed to the green light of the other, or where 
a red light without a green light, or a green light without a 
red light, is seen ahead, or where both green and red 
lights are seen anywhere but ahead. 

Art. 19. When two steam vessels are crossing, so as 
to involve risk of coUision, the vessel which has the other 
on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way of the 
other. 

Art. 20. When a steam vessel and a sailing vessel are 
proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of 
collision, the steam vessel shall keep out of the way of the 
saiUng vessel. 

Art. 21. Where by any of these rules one of two 
vessels is to keep out of the way, the other shall keep her 
course and speed. 

Nbfe. — When, in consequence of thick weather or 
other causes, such vessel finds herself so close that collision 
cannot be avoided by the action of the giving-way vessel 
alone, she also shall take such action as will best aid to 
avert collision. 

Art. 22. Every vessel which is directed by these rules 
to keep out of the way of another vessel shall, if the 
circumstances of the case admit, avoid crossing ahead of 
the other. 

Art. 23. Every steamer which is directed by these 
rules to keep out of the way of another vessel shall, on 
approaching her, if necessary, slacken her speed or stop or 
reverse. 

Art. 24. Notwithstanding anything contained in these 



252 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

rules, every vessel, overtaking any other, shall keep out of 
the way of the overtaken vessel. 

Every vessel coming up with another vessel from any 
direction more than two points abaft her beam, i.e. in 
such a position, with reference to the vessel which she is 
overtaking, that at night she would be unable to see either 
of that vessel's side-lights, shall be deemed to be an over- 
taking vessel ; and no subsequent alteration of the bear- 
ing between the two vessels shall make the overtaking 
vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these rules^ 
or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the over- 
taking vessel until she is finally past and clear. 

As by day the overtaking vessel cannot always know with 
certainty whether she is forward of or abaft this direction 
from the other vessel, she should, if in doubt, assume that 
she is an overtaking vessel and keep out of the way. 

Art. 25. In narrow channels every steam vessel shall, 
when it is safe and practicable, keep to that side of the 
fairway or mid-channel which lies on the starboard side of 
such vessel. 

Art. 26. Sailing vessels under way shall keep out of the 
way of saihng vessels or boats fishing with nets, or lines, 
or trawls. This rule shall not give to any vessel or boat 
engaged in fishing the right of obstructing a fairway 
used by vessels other than fishing vessels or boats. 

Art. 27. In obeying and construing these rules, due 
regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and col- 
lision, and to any special circumstances which may render 
a departure from the above rules necessary in order to 
avoid immediate danger. 

SOUND SIGNALS FOR VESSELS IN SIGHT OF ONE 
ANOTHER. 

Art. 28. The words ' short blast used in this Article 
shall mean a blast of about one second's duration. 



STEAM AND DISTRESS SIGNALS 253 

When vessels are in sight of one another, a steam vessel 
^under way in taking any course authorised or required by 
these rules, shall indicate that course by the following 
signals on her whistle or siren, viz. : — 

One short blast to mean, ' I am directing my course 

to starboard.' 
Two short blasts to mean, ' I am directing my course 

to port.' 
Three short blasts to mean, 'My engines are going 
full speed astern.' 

NO VESSEL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO NEGLECT 
PROPER PRECAUTIONS. 

Art. 29. Nothing in these rules shall exonerate any 
vessel, or the owner, or master, or crew thereof, from the 
consequences of any neglect to carry lights or signals, or 
of any neglect to keep a proper look-out, or of the neglect 
of any precaution which mdy be required by the ordinary 
practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the 
case. 

RESERVATION OF RULES FOR HARBOURS AND INLAND 
NAVIGATION. 

Art. 30. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the 
operation of a special rule, duly made by local authority, 
relative to the navigation of any harbour, river, or inland 
waters. 

DISTRESS SIGNALS. 

Art. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires 
assistance from other vessels or from the shore, the follow- 
ing shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her, 
either together or separately, viz. : — 

In the daytime — 

I. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of 
about a minute. 



254 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

2. The International Code signal of distress indicated 
by N.C. 

3. The distant signal, consisting of a square flag, having 
either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a 
ball. 

4. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

At night — 

1. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of 
about a minute. 

2. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar-barrel, 
oil-barrel, etc.). 

3. Rockets or shells, throwing stars of any colour or 
description, fired one at a time, at short intervals. 

4. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

The skipper of the small yacht will discover, 
from a perusal of these regulations, that it is his duty 
to carry with him the following lanterns — a white 
riding light, a red port light, a green starboard light, 
and a white bull's-eye lantern ; for he will find the 
bull's-eye the most convenient form of light to show 
from the stern when overtaken by a vessel (see Art. 
10). The author on his cruising yachts invariably 
kept a lit bull's-eye lantern hanging at the top of 
the companion lantern at night, within easy reach 
of the man at the helm. 

A vessel under 20 tons need not carry two side- 
lights, as she is permitted by Article 7 to carry a 
lantern with a green glass on one side and a red 
glass on the other, to be exhibited on the approach 
of a vessel. A lantern is also sold which combines 
in itself the port, starboard, and riding lights. 



VESSELS UNDER TWENTY TONS 255 

When employed in the latter capacity the coloured 
glasses are removed. In the case of rowing boats, 
even when under canvas, side-lights are not obliga- 
tory (see Article 7, subdivision 4). 

It is laid down in Article 15 that a vessel of 20 
tons and over must be provided with bell and 
mechanical fog-horn to sound signals in thick 
weather. For small yachts the ordinary fog-horn 
sounded with the mouth is all that is needed, as 
(see last paragraph of Article 15) no special form of 
sound signals are obligatory for vessels under 20 
tons. 

The flags of the international code of signals, with 
the code-book, are not obligatory, but should be 
carried on every yacht th^t undertakes long cruises. 

The rules of the road are now clearly defined 
in the new regulations ; but the skipper of the 
small boat must bear in mind that his craft is 
handier and quicker to turn than a large steamer 
or sailing vessel, that in narrow channels, as in 
the Thames, there is but little room for them and 
plenty for him, all the more so that with his tiny 
craft he can safely sail over the shoal water on either 
side of the buoyed channels. Thus he will rightly 
be expected to keep out of the way of the large 
craft, and he must not make himself a nuisance by 
sailing across the bows of an ocean steamer (for 
example, in Greenwich reach), relying on the rule 
of the road that gives his, as a sailing vessel, the 
right of way. There must be a give and take when 



256 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

applying these rules of the sea-road, as there is on 
land between the wheel traffic and the pedestrians in 
a crowded street. It is the duty of the small-boat 
skipper to avoid getting in the way of the big 
unwieldy vessels; but in order to do this let him 
take care to alter his course in good time, and so 
apprise the other vessel of his intention. If you 
stand on until you are just under a steamer's bows 
before you go about, her pilot, unaware that it is 
your intention to tack, may alter her course so as 
to pass under your stern, in which case a collision 
will probably ensue for which you will be entirely 
responsible. 

In short, common sense must be employed in 
the application of the rules, and Article 27 practi- 
cally lays down that they must be construed in 
accordance with their spirit and not the strict letter, 
and that under certain circumstances the vessel 
having the right, according to the rules, to stand on 
her course, must give way to the other vessel in 
order to avoid collision. Remember, for example, 
when observing the course of an approaching vessel, 
that the winding narrow channel of the river may 
necessitate her changing her course the next 
moment. Here is a case in which, when calculating 
what you ought to do yourself, the hard and fast 
rule cannot apply, as it would on the open sea, 
where a vessel suddenly altering her course in this 
way would put herself in the wrong if there was a 
collision. 



PILOT SIGNALS 257 

By an order which came into force in 1898, regu- 
lating the navigation of Southampton Water, all 
sailing vessels must give way to steamers of 1000 
tons or over. On the Thames and Mersey there 
has for some time existed an unwritten law to the 
same effect, which it is expected will shortly receive 
the sanction of the legislation. 

The following are the Board of Trade regulations 
relating to pilot signals : — 

In the daytime. — The following signals, num- 
bered I and 2, when used or displayed together or 
separately, shall be deemed to be signals for a pilot 
in the daytime : — 

1. To be hoisted at the fore, the jack or other 
national colour usually worn by merchant ships, 
having round it a white border, one-fifth of the 
breadth of the flag ; or 

2. The international code pilotage signal, indicated 
by P.T. 

At night. — The following signals, numbered i 
and 2, when used or displayed together or sepa- 
rately, shall be deemed to be signals for a pilot at 
night : — 

1. The pyrotechnic light, commonly known as a 
blue light, every fifteen minutes ; or 

2. A bright white light, flashed or shown at short 
or frequent intervals, just above the bulwarks, for 
about a minute at a time. 

R 



258 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

And * Any master of a vessel who uses or displays, 
or causes or permits any person under his authority 
to use or display, any of the said signals for any 
other purpose than that of summoning a pilot, or 
uses, or causes, or permits any person under his 
authority to use, any other signal for a pilot, shall 
incur a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.' 

There are some other Board of Trade regulations 
with which the yachtsman should be conversant. 
For example, if he has sailed across the Channel to 
a foreign port he must report himself and get his 
vessel cleared at the first British port at which he 
calls on his return ; and until this formality has been 
observed he must fly his ensign by day and carry a 
light under his bowsprit by night. Some years ago 
the author, ignorant of the regulation which com- 
pels all vessels from foreign ports to bring up off 
Gravesend for clearance before proceeding up the 
Thames, sailed by that place on his way from 
Ostend and did not let go his anchor till he was off 
North Woolwich pier. Here he was boarded by 
the Custom House officers ; his name and address 
were taken down, and his vessel was searched, A 
few days later he received an ominous official docu- 
ment calling upon him to show cause why he should 
not be made to pay a certain heavy penalty for his 
infringement of the river Customs regulations. He 
pleaded ignorance, and as the authorities were 
satisfied that he was not on smuggling bent, the 
penalty on this occasion was not enforced. 



ADMIRALTY WARRANTS 259 

ship's papers 

An Admiralty warrant has been granted to 
certain of the Royal Yacht Clubs, the Royal Thames 
Yacht Club having been the first to receive this 
honour in 1835. The warrant authorises the member 
of one of these clubs to fly on his vessel the blue 
ensign of Her Majesty's fleet, and in the case of one 
club, the Royal Squadron, to fly the white ensign. 
The blue ensigns of some of these clubs also bear 
the distinguishing marks of the clubs — such as a 
crown in the centre. 

The owner of a yacht, having made application 
through the secretary of his club, receives from the 
Admiralty a warrant entitling him to fly the ensign 
on that particular vessel, so long as she remains his 
property. The warrant must be returned to the 
Admiralty if the vessel is sold ; an owner requires 
a separate warrant for each of his vessels, and 
separate warrants to fly the colours of each club to 
which he may belong. If a yacht owner fly such 
colours without having obtained a warrant, he will 
be liable to pay a penalty not exceeding ^500, 
according to the provisions of the Merchant Shipping 
Act. A yacht owner must also obtain a club certifi- 
cate to show that he is a member of that particular 
club. 

Formerly the Admiralty warrant exempted the 
holder from all Government dues in Great Britain ; 
but an order came in force in 1898 by which boats 



260 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

of above five tons pay one shilling per ton per annum 
towards the maintenance of lights. The warrant 
entitles the yachtsman to several valuable privileges, 
while still further favours are extended to him as 
a matter of courtesy. He may, for example, use 
man-of-war moorings if these are not required at 
the time for Government purposes. When he cruises 
abroad, the production of his warrant will free him 
from all such harbour and other dues as are paid 
by merchantmen, but not by men-of-war. In some 
parts of the world, in Brazil for example, a warrant 
is almost indispensable ; for a yacht unprovided with 
it would be treated as if she were a merchantman, 
and her owner would be put to considerable incon- 
venience. When the author called at Bahia with 
his eighteen-ton yacht the Falcon^ his Admiralty 
warrant ensured him the most courteous treatment 
on the part of the authorities. His vessel was 
accorded man-of-war rights ; permission was given 
him to anchor in the man-of-war ground instead of 
in the crowded mercantile anchorage, and he was 
permitted to go off in his boat to the yacht, or to 
land at the arsenal steps, at any hour of the day 
or night, the sentries having received instructions 
always to open the gates and let him through. Now 
the skipper of a merchantman cannot, or at any 
rate could not in those days, leave his vessel or go 
on board of her after 8 P.M., without a special licence 
from the Customs House, which I understand was 
not readily granted. Another very vexatious rule 



REGISTRATION OF YACHTS 261 

was held not to apply to me. I was not compelled, 
as was every merchantman, to have an insolent negro 
guard placed on board my vessel during my stay. 

The Customs authorities abroad, in short, respect 
our Admiralty warrant ; they relax their rules in 
favour of the yachtsman, are not ever suspiciously 
on the watch to see that he does not smuggle or 
otherwise break the laws of the country. He is 
trusted as a gentleman, and he is on his honour to 
observe the obligations on the strength of which the 
warrant was granted. The privilege should never 
be abused. 

Registration is not compulsory for vessels of fifteen 
tons and under. But even a small yacht, if she is 
intended for foreign cruising, should be registered. 
In the first place, the Admiralty will not grant a 
warrant to an unregistered boat. The register is 
the most important of the ship's papers. It is a 
certificate of ownership granted by the Registrar- 
General of Shipping, and it is a ship's passport which 
serves to identify her and to establish her nation- 
ality when abroad. It is on her registered tonnage 
that a yacht has to pay harbour, light, canal, and 
other dues, at so much a ton. If, for example, one 
is sailing on the Dutch canals, the production of the 
register will settle beyond dispute the amount that 
can be rightly claimed for canal dues. But if a 
boat be unprovided with a register, her owner is 
likely to be occasionally worried by the red tape of 
foreign officialdom, and he will probably be made 



262 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

to pay dues calculated on her yacht measurement — 
that is, about twice as much as he should pay ; for 
a vessel's tonnage by yacht measurement is as a 
rule nearly double her registered tonnage. 

When the yachtsman has his boat built for him, 
it is a simple matter to have her registered. A 
Customs House measuring officer examines her and 
gives a certificate as to her tonnage, etc. This 
certificate, together with the builder's certificate and 
a declaration of ownership, are sent to the Registrar 
who will then grant the register. But when one 
purchases a second-hand unregistered vessel it often 
happens that one cannot trace her antecedents ; and 
if, when applying for a register, one is unable to 
produce either her builder's certificate (it being un- 
known who built her), or her bills of sale, as the 
transfers from the successive owners are called, he 
will have to go through some formalities and be put 
to expense and trouble — I speak from experience — 
before he obtains his register. 

The relations between the captain and crew of a 
merchantman are very clearly defined by law. But 
these regulations — more especially those framed for 
the protection of the merchant seaman — apparently 
do not apply to pleasure craft. The rights of the 
yacht sailor and the power of the yacht skipper are 
imperfectly understood by either party. 

The yacht owner should invariably have his name 
inscribed on the ship's papers as her captain, even 
if he employ a skipper to sail his vessel for him. 



CREW'S WRITTEN AGREEMENT 263 

The only person recognised by officials abroad as 
being in authority on a vessel is her captain. The 
owner who has his skipper entered as captain makes 
the latter his master, so that if the man prove un- 
satisfactory, and has to be discharged in a foreign 
harbour, it may be difficult to get rid of him, and 
vexatious complications may arise. Unlike the 
master of a merchantman, the owner of a yacht is 
not compelled by law to pass his examination and 
hold a Board of Trade certificate before he can com- 
mand his vessel as captain on a foreign voyage. 
The Board of Trade yachting certificate is optional. 
It is always well to have a written agreement with 
one's paid hands. Ocean cruising is beyond the 
scope of this work ; but Jt may be remarked that 
the owner of a yacht bound on a long foreign voyage 
should not only be his own captain, but should 
make all hands — volunteers as well as paid men — 
sign articles in the presence of a shipping master 
before starting. Much future trouble may be saved 
by taking this precaution. Let him also religiously 
observe all the Board of Trade regulations as regards 
provisions and medicaments. An ill-conditioned 
sea-lawyer in his crew, on being discharged by the 
author in a Brazilian port, laid a complaint before 
the British Consul to the effect that the Board of 
Trade scale of provisions had not been furnished on 
the yacht. As a matter of fact, the scale of provisions 
had been far more liberal and luxurious than that 
specified by the Board of Trade, but in so much as 



264 BOARD OF TRADE REGULATIONS 

it differed from it, our sea-lawyer had a technical 
grievance. Again, when punishing men for mis- 
conduct, only such punishments as are sanctioned 
by the Board of Trade must be inflicted. 

Even when cruising with a small vessel, the yachts- 
man will do well to keep a log-book, and when he 
is on a foreign cruise with paid hands under him, 
to do so becomes imperative. For the log is the 
official diary in which is entered, day by day, not 
only the details of the ship's vogage, but the fines 
and other punishments inflicted on the seamen, the 
discharge or desertion of men, cases of death or 
sickness, etc. ; and in case of future litigation or 
official inquiry the log-book has to be produced. 

INSURANCE 

It is now possible to insure a yacht on very easy 
terms with Lloyd's agents, against all risks ; and 
it is not necessary for insurance purposes that 
the captain of a yacht hold a Board of Trade 
certificate. 

In the ordinary yachting policy, clauses are in- 
serted making the underwriters liable for a vessel's 
loss or partial damage to the extent of the value of 
the policy, whether she be at sea, in port, in dock, 
on a gridiron, on the mud, etc. ; whether she have 
a pilot on board or not : in short, nearly all possible 
conditions are provided for, and the vessel is per- 
mitted, without invalidating her policy, to sail to 
any port in any part of the world. 



INSURANCE CLAUSES 



265 



By what is known as the collision clause, the 
underwriters are liable for damages inflicted by the 
insured yacht on some other vessel, by collision with 
her (even if the insured vessel be in the wrong), to 
the extent of three-quarters of the value of the 
policy. 

By what is known as the average clause, the 
underwriters contract to pay for the repair of partial 
damage to the insured vessel, an average at the rate 
of three per cent, of the sum for which the vessel is 
insured. 

Or by another clause, often inserted in the policies 
of large yachts, the underwriters are liable in full 
for the repair of any damage costing more than ;£'20, 
but for nothing under that sum. 

To cover racing risks a separate clause is inserted. 




Off Hong Kong. 



CHAPTER XIII 

TWO CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 
A dhow race in the Red Sea— Down the Nile Cataracts. 

The following narrative will convey some idea of 
how the Arabs handle their somewhat clumsy, lateen- 
rigged craft. My dhow race in the Red Sea was 
sailed in the November of 1897. Military operations 
in the Sudan had come to a close for that season, 
so four correspondents and myself returned home 
from Berber by way of Suakin, a desert journey of 
245 miles. Riding on camels and accompanied by 
half a dozen armed Fuzzy-Wuzzies, we reached 
Suakin in eleven days. From Suakin the other 
correspondents returned by sea to Cairo on their 
way home ; but my destination was the Italian 
colony of Erythrea, for at Suakin I found awaiting 
me a telegram from the paper I represented ordering 
me to travel without delay to Kassala, which was 
shortly to be handed over by the Italians to the 
Egyptian Government. By the direct caravan route 
(along which I travelled some months later), Kassala 
is but 280 miles from Suakin, but at that time 
Dervish patrols were wont to water at the wells on 



AN ARAB DHOW 267 

this road, so that I could not follow it. My only 
plan, therefore, was to sail to the Italian port of 
Massowah, 300 miles down the coast, and thence 
ride through Erythrea, another 300 miles, to my 
destination. As no steamers run between Suakin 
and Massowah, I was compelled to charter a native 
sailing-craft in order to make this voyage. 

It had been blowing hard from the north for 
several days, and I knew that if it continued to do 
so I could reach Massowah in two or three days 
with any boat that could sail at all. I soon found 
the very vessel for my purpose in the harbour, a 
dhow of about thirty tons burden. She had two 
masts, carrying a large lateen sail on her foremast, 
and a smaller one on her pizzen. She was undecked, 
but her high stern was partly covered in, forming 
a poop on which the helmsman stood ; so that under 
this I could find shelter during the voyage, and 
make myself very fairly comfortable, despite the 
rats and cockroaches, and the small but very aggres- 
sive and venomous mosquitoes that swarmed in that 
part of the vessel. She must have brought the 
mosquitoes from her own country, as I had come 
across none in Suakin or anywhere else in the 
Sudan. The dhow belonged to Yembo, the port 
of Medina, on the opposite Arabian coast, and was 
sailing under the Turkish flag. She was discharg- 
ing a cargo of dates which she had brought from 
Yembo. She carried a crew of twelve men, negroes 
and Arabians of the Hedjaz. 



268 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

I came to terms with the Arab merchant, residing 
in Suakin, who represented the Turkish owners of 
the El Hamdi — for that was the vessel's name — and 
I explained to him that I wished to put to sea as 
soon as possible, being anxious not to waste the 




-^^ 



— ~=-its- 



El Hamdi' Dhow. 



favouring wind ; for I knew that, should it shift 
to the southward, a fortnight or more might be 
occupied in beating down the coast. The skipper, 
therefore, set to work to discharge the remainder 
of his caurgo as rapidly as he could, and in a few 
hours the dhow was at my disposal. I put on board 



RED SEA SAILORS 269 

of her my baggage and provisions for the voyage 
— biscuits, tinned meats, coffee, and whisky, and 
some goat-skins full of water — and in the afternoon 
the dhow dropped two miles down the reef-bound 
channel in order to take on board some sand from 
the banks as ballast, for she carried no cargo. It 
was arranged that I should pull off to the vessel 
in a shore boat at night, and that we should sail 
as soon as the tide served. I had been informed 
that another dhow, with a correspondent on board 
(not one of my companions on the ride from Berber, 
but another who had recently arrived from Cairo), 
had sailed that morning for Massowah, and that 
the said correspondent had determined to get there 
before me. But my skipper was proud of his vessel, 
and was keen to prove her qualities in a race. * I 
know that they intend to do their best on the other 
dhow,' he said ; 'but I will guarantee that, despite their 
long start, we will be the first to reach Massowah.' 

At midnight I got a boat to take me off to the 
dhow. It was now blowing a full gale from the 
north, the sky was overcast, and it was very dark. 
The skipper did not like the look of the weather, 
and told me that he would not venture to navigate 
his craft on such a night among the intricate coral 
reefs which lie outside Suakin ; and after glancing 
at a chart which I had brought with me, I had to 
acknowledge that he was right. The steamer South- 
endy on which my four colleagues had taken passage, 
was to have sailed that afternoon for Suez, but had 



270 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

postponed her departure on account of the heavy 
weather ; so there was a good excuse for the skipper 
of our little open craft remaining at this safe anchor- 
age until the morning. 

The following day, November the 14th, broke 
wildly ; the clouds were rushing across the sky, the 
gale was howling through our rigging, and the dhow 
was tumbling about and straining uneasily at her 
anchor. But my skipper was no timid mariner. On 
the contrary, like most of these fatalistic, happy-go- 
lucky Mussulman sailor-men, of whom so many are 
lost each year in these treacherous and stormy Red 
Sea waters, he was perhaps what Europeans would 
have called foolhardy ; to put it more correctly, he 
placed more faith in Kismet than in the barometer. 
So, at the first appearance of light in the east, the 
skipper roused his men ; the anchor was weighed ; 
the great foresail was hoisted, to an Arab chanty 
lustily shouted ; the vessel listed for a moment until 
the water was running over her lee-side into her 
hold, righted herself, and then was off like a grey- 
hound through the smooth water inside the reef. 
' The other dhow has had twenty-four hours' start,' 
I remarked. ' What of that ? ' replied the skipper. 
* She, too, I know, must have been lying at anchor 
somewhere within the reef. We shall be at Mas- 
sowah before her if we sail the El Hamdi as we 
should.' A race is always interesting, so I en- 
couraged the crew by a promise of backshish if our 
dhow proved the winner, with the result that the 



AN ARAB CREW 271 

skipper and his willing men threw themselves heartily 
into the sport of the thing ; and had they been (as 
most probably some of them had been in their time) 
cracking on with a cargo of slaves on board to 
escape a pursuing British cruiser, they could not 
have sailed their craft more smartly. It reminded 
me agreeably of former yachting days ; and I well 
knew that, should my friend on the other dhow 
catch sight of us, he would do his utmost to make 
his crew win the race. I afterwards found that this 
had been indeed the case. 

I soon discovered that the crew of my dhow were 
a fine, cheery lot of men; and excellent sailors. It 
was a picturesque crew, too, as if it had just come 
out of The Arabian Nights \ it might well have 
sailed under the adventurous Sindbad himself. The 
skipper was a jovial, old, one-eyed mariner from 
Jiddah ; his mate was a huge fellow, black as coal, 
but with aquiline Arab features. The men knew 
their work thoroughly — were prompt in repeating 
each word of command and in obeying it ; discip- 
line was well maintained, and I was astonished to 
find how well ordered everything can be on an 
Arab dhow. The diet of the crew was simple and 
excellent ; they ate their fill of dates and rice, and 
hospitably brought me dishes of their food at each 
repast. They were very regular at their morning 
and evening devotions ; the skipper called them 
together at the proper hours, and himself chanted 
in a rather fine voice ; for, being natives of Jiddah 



272 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

and Yembo, the ports of the two holiest cities, 
Mecca and Medina, they were the most fanatical 
of Mussulmans. One would always get on very 
well with these fine sailors of Arabia were it not 
for the fierce fanaticism lurking in their souls, ever 
ready to burst out, and maintaining such an impass- 
able gulf between them and the Franks. 

We soon got outside the sheltering Suakin reef, 
and found a heavy sea running, in which we rolled 
and plunged violently, occasionally shipping a good 
deal of water over our low sides, so that it became 
necessary to keep the hands constantly at the pumps. 
This operation was effected in a primitive fashion 
on board the El Hamdi. Pumps indeed there were 
none ; a trough formed of a hollowed palm-tree was 
fastened across the vessel's waist transversely, its 
ends overlapping either bulwark. At the bottom 
of the vessel amidships was a square well, boarded 
in to prevent the sand ballast from falling into it. 
In this well stood one of the hands, knee-deep in 
water, filling goat-skin buckets from it as fast as 
he was able, and handing these out to a hand above, 
who, in his turn, emptied them into the trough, 
whence the water poured overboard from one side 
or the other as the vessel rolled ; a slow and happy- 
go-lucky progress, indeed, by which it would have 
been impossible to bale out the dhow had we shipped 
a really heavy sea into our open hold. 

We were running before a steep following sea, 
but there was but small chance of our being pooped ; 



BEFORE WIND AND SEA 



273 



for like European vessels of the eighteenth century 
and earlier (whose lines above water were indeed 
very similar to those of the Arab dhow), we had a 
towering poop that no wave ever reached, though 
we had comparatively low bows and little freeboard 
amidships. I occasionally stood on this poop and 




Dhow Running. 

took a spell at the helm, and I found that she 
steered very easily, showing no tendency to broach 
to. The skipper had the true racing spirit, and did 
not miss a chance. On the contrary, he was too 
ready to run considerable risks in his attempts to 
cut corners so as to shorten his passage or to cheat 
an opposing current. For example, he once took 
us over shoal water at the edge of some of the reefs, 

S 



274 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

and the white coral was visible but a few feet 
beneath our keel. Here the sea became dangerously- 
steep ; there were rollers such as one sees on the 
weather edge of the Doggerbank in an autumn 
gale. The water poured over our sides in alarming 
volumes; the men at the baling apparatus could 
not keep it under ; the loose sand that formed our 
ballast was converted into sludge, and shifted with 
each roll of the vessel. We were certainly, for a 
short time, in some danger of foundering ; and this 
the skipper realised, for, shouting orders mingled 
with invocations to Allah and the Prophet, he 
promptly hauled his wind and made for the open 
sea and deeper water. 

The skipper pressed the dhow under as much 
canvas as she could safely carry, and we had a few 
accidents on the way. First we sprang our heavy 
foreyard at the juncture of the two spars of which it 
was formed ; so the sail was lowered and we ran on 
more comfortably, but at a much reduced rate, under 
the smaller mizzen, which had not yet been set, and 
which was now brought forward and hoisted on the 
foremast. Next, with a loud report, the sheet carried 
away in a squall, and the sail was split in various 
places before it could be secured and got down. 
We had now, therefore, to run under bare poles for 
a short time, until the foresail-yard was repaired. 
This was done very smartly — for Arab sailors have 
plenty of practice in patching up their invariably 
rickety spars and gear — up went our big foresail 



JIBING A DHOW 275 

again, and we rushed over the seas at our former 
rate. Every now and again we had to jibe — a 
formidable operation in such weather with this huge 
lateen, which, like the English lugsail, has to be 
dipped and passed over to the other side at each 
jibe or tack. 

At midday we were sailing in smoother water 
inside a long coral reef, which extends for many 
miles parallel to the coast, and forms a sheltered 
channel for small craft. It was only occasionally, 
when we passed the openings in the reef, that we 
were exposed to the heavy sea that was still running. 
Later in the afternoon we sailed past the southern 
end of this reef, and were again rolling and pitching 
merrily as we ran before ^he high steep seas. Then 
we doubled the cape called Ras Asis, which is about 
seventy miles from Suakin. From here the coast 
trends, for ten miles, to the west of south, so afforded 
us some shelter, the wind being from the N.N.W. 
At about sunset the skipper lowered his sail and let 
go his anchor close under the shore, which was low 
and barren, and appeared to be uninhabited. He 
explained to me — and my chart confirmed his words 
— that there was no safe anchorage further on with 
this wind blowing, and that the numerous islets 
and shoals, among which we had to pick our way, 
rendered navigation dangerous on a dark night. 
But the skipper was still confident that, despite this 
delay, we should overhaul our adversary on the 
morrow. He knew that he was no less daring than 



276 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

the master of the other dhow, and that the latter 
would come to an anchor at least as often as he did. 

We rolled about a good deal that night, and 
before dawn on November 15 the skipper roused 
his sleeping crew, who promptly went to their work 
in their fluttering white robes, singing their chanties 
as usual while they got up anchor and sail. The 
wind was now moderating, and soon it fell light, and 
the rain began to fall. We travelled slowly over an 
oily swell, our sail flapping with every roll. Now 
and again, however, a short but violent squall swept 
down upon us and drove the dhow hissing through 
the water for a while. At about nine o'clock in the 
morning we sighted two craft ahead of us. We 
soon distinguished them as being two-masted dhows, 
one coming our way and the other apparently sailing 
the same course as ourselves. * That one/ said the 
skipper, 'is the felucca with the Englishman on 
board. We are now certain to be in port before her. 
The El Haindi can sail ; the other cannot.' 

The crew now spared no effort to overtake the 
chase ; as there were no longer squalls of dangerous 
violence, they, for the first time, cracked on all the 
canvas they could. From a sack they produced a 
sail I had not yet seen, which proved to be a large 
foresail of light canvas, intended for use only in 
moderate breezes, and possibly in case of pursuit 
when the vessel was engaged in contraband trade. 
The head of the foresail, under which we had been 
sailing so far, was ten feet shorter than the yard on 



'EL HAMDr GAINS 277 

which it was bent ; but when this was lowered and 
the new foresail was bent on in its place, I saw that 
the head of the latter extended from end to end of 
the spar, and that this sail was also considerably 
longer along the foot, so that we were now spreading 
a very large area of canvas. The mizzen, which had 
been repaired, was also hoisted, and the watchful 
skipper carefully trimmed his sheets to each shift of 
the variable breeze. Whenever possible, we sailed 
with our lateens goose-winged. 

We passed close to the dhow that was tacking 
towards us ; and her reis, when we hailed him, con- 
firmed what our skipper had said. * There is a 
Feringhi on the vessel ahead,' he shouted. The 
sky cleared, and our crew were employed in drying 
their drenched garments, as we sailed very slowly 
on before the gradually failing wind ; but all the 
while we gained steadily on the other dhow, and at 
one o'clock we were about two miles astern of her. 
Then it fell calm for a few hours, and our sails hung 
uselessly flapping and chafing from the groaning 
yards as we wallowed in the swell. An hour before 
sunset a light breeze sprang up from the south of 
east, so that our tacks were brought amidship and 
our sheets were flattened in ; for we could just lay 
our course close-hauled on the port tack. The wind 
soon freshened, and we began to overhaul our adver- 
sary rapidly. Shortly after dark a squall struck us. 
The El Hamdi proved herself very fast on a wind : 
leaning well over, with the water rippling over her 



278 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

lee bulwarks, we shot by the other dhow as if she 
were standing still ; and in a few minutes left her 
astern, out of sight in the growing darkness, for 
these happy-go-lucky dhows but rarely carry lights 
at night. 

Then my proud and delighted skipper came up 
and shook hands with me heartily, and the crew 
hurried aft to congratulate me after the true Arab 




Dhow Beating. 



fashion. Discipline was cast aside for the nonce. 
The gigantic black mate at the helm alone took 
charge of the ship. The others expressed their 
triumph by the hx^h fantasia of victory. A lantern 
was hung up, a tom-tom and stringed instruments 
were produced, and while four of the men squatted 
in front of me and played with furious energy on 
these instruments, the rest wildly danced and shouted 
and clapped their hands. This orgy lasted for 



'EL HAMDrS' VICTORY 279 

several hours ; and when they wearied, the men 
enjoyed the luxurious supper that had been pro- 
vided for them, consisting of rice to eat, water to 
drink, and some tobacco, which I had given them 
to smoke. It was a celebration of victory that 
would have astonished a winning crew at Cowes. 

We did not come to an anchor this night, as the 
coast was now clear, with no outlying reefs or shoals 
to pick us up. Our black mate was at the helm all 
night ; for the steering had now to be done by 
compass, and he was the only one of the crew who 
understood the English box-compass he had with 
him on the poop, and of which he was inordinately 
proud. He was very interested in my chart, and 
evidently comprehended it thoroughly, when I read 
the names out to him and pointed out the various 
landmarks. We made good way till dawn, when we 
had the low desert mainland close to us on our star- 
board hand, and over our port-bow the island of 
Difnein, on which there is a lighthouse, seventy 
miles from Massowah. We sailed before light 
breezes through the smooth green water, and at 
four in the afternoon were abreast of the south end 
of Harat Island, where there is another light, and 
but twenty-five miles from our destination. 

The wind now headed us, and freshened con- 
siderably. We took long tacks, and sailed, with all 
possible canvas set, our lee bulwarks nearly level 
with the water. So soon as the sun was down we 
sighted the lights of Massowah, and at seven o'clock 



28o CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

we came to an anchor outside the harbour, awaiting 
daylight to get in. We had thus made the voyage 
in a little over sixty hours, which was fair work 
considering the light breezes and calms we had 
encountered for a portion of the way. Early on 
the following morning we sailed into the spacious 
harbour, let go our anchor, and hoisted the Turkish 
ensign. As soon as we had got pratique I bade 
farewell to my friendly skipper and his crew, and 
put off to the quay in the dhow's boat. Shortly 
afterwards I saw the other dhow (which had been 
sailing through the night while we lay at anchor) 
come in. My friend had done his utmost to urge on 
his crew, and they had tried their best to outstrip 
us ; but we had beaten them very easily, having 
sailed two knots to their one. Ours was the larger 
and faster vessel, and I think we carried the better 
crew. My dhow sailed for Jiddah that afternoon, 
while I, turning my back on the sea for awhile, 
travelled inland on mules and camels across six 
hundred miles of mountain and desert. 

DOWN THE NILE CATARACTS 

The voyage I am now about to describe is very 
different from that I undertook in the Red Sea on 
the dhow El Hamdi, To any who contemplate the 
navigation, with a sailing craft, of the rapids of a 
great river, the following narrative may afford some 
useful hints. 

It was in October 1896. I had been representing 



A SUDAN VOYAGE 281 

the Times in the Sudan. For seven months, 
throughout an exceptionally torrid summer, even 
for the Sudan, the Nile expeditionary force had 
been marching, fighting, or sweltering in desert 
cholera camps ; the battles of Firket and Hafir had 
been fought; Dongola and Merawi had been occu- 
pied; five hundred miles of the Nile Valley had 
been recovered from the Dervish tyranny; the 




campaign had come to a close for that year, and it 
was known that the Egyptian army would make no 
further advance until the following summer. 

We war correspondents sold our horses and camels, 
and made arrangements to travel down the Nile by 
boat from Dongola to Kosheh, which was at that 
time the southern terminus of the military railway. 
Permission was given to us to take passage on the 
Government sailing -boats, of which many were 
employed in transporting supplies from Kosheh to 



282 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

the southern garrisons. On September 30th a strong 
wind brought up to Dongola a large fleet oi gayassaSy 
which were promptly unloaded and despatched back 
to Kosheh for further cargoes. A big two-masted 
boat was placed at the disposal of myself and the 




m 



Gayassa below Half a. 



correspondent of another paper. She was fifty feet 
in length and fourteen in breadth, and carried two 
large lateen sails. Her reis and his crew of two 
lazy Berberis were from the north, and knew but little 
of this portion of the river ; but happily we had with 
us one of my camel-drivers, an old man called Oshea 
(an Arab and not an Irishman, as one would imagine 



A NILE JOURNEY 283 

from his name), who was a native of the Dongola 
province, and was able to direct the reis in the 
intricate navigation of the rock-encumbered rapids. 
On the evening of September 30th we embarked 
with our servants and an Egyptian soldier, whose 
duty it was to accompany the gayassa on her voyage, 
and prevent the lazy crew from lingering too long on 
the way. 

It was an interesting journey, for we frequently 
landed on the river-bank, or on the green islands, 
and had an opportunity of observing the immediate 
results of the reoccupation of the province by the 
Egyptians. The people seemed contented, and 
showed complete confidence in the first Europeans 
they had seen for many years. They were evidently 
pleased to be rid of the Dervish yoke, and had 
already resumed the cultivation of the land ; where- 
ever the Dervishes had left any oxen to turn the 
water-wheels, we heard the droning of the sakiyehs as 
they raised the water from the river to irrigate the 
fields. Though we had a strong stream under us, 
the voyage from Dongola to Kosheh, a distance of 
about 200 miles, occupied nearly six days ; and our 
soldiers told us that the boat on her last voyage had 
taken no less than fifteen days to sail up the river 
from Kosheh to Dongola. Our progress would have 
been even slower than it was had we not constantly 
stirred up the lazy mj, who was of the opinion that 
the proper way to take a boat down the river was to 
let her drift idly all day and tie her up to the bank 



284 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

each night, so that he could enjoy his eight hours' 
slumber. As at this season the north wind generally 
blows hard throughout the day to impede a boat's 
drifting, whereas at night it is calm, we compelled 
the old man to continue his navigation throughout a 
great portion of the night, except when we were on 
dangerous portions of the river. 

The men seldom use their oars on these larger 
gayassaSy and guide the clumsy flat-bottomed craft 
down-stream after the following fashion. If the 
north breeze blows hard against the current, the 
head of the vessel is turned up-stream, and as the 
empty boat draws little water, and her high prow 
exposes a large surface to hold the wind, good 
steerage-way is gained, which enables the reis to 
keep her in the strength of the current and to avoid 
dangers. The result is that one is often travelling 
through the water at quite two knots in the direction 
opposite to that in which one is bound, though at 
the same time the favouring stream running four 
knots under the vessel enables one to make pro- 
gress northward at the rate of two knots an hour. 
Sometimes, again, when the wind was light, and 
he required more steerage-way in order to dodge 
the shallows and rocks, over which the river rushed 
with an ominous roar, the reis hoisted his foresail, 
or, if necessary, both his sails. Occasionally, too, 
he tacked backwards and forwards across the river ; 
and it was then, I think, that our progress was 
slowest, for the leeway made by that gayassa was 



GAYASSAS TACKING 285 

extraordinary; and, as she would not go about, 
the reis had to wear her each time — an operation 
which involved running fast up-stream before the 
wind for fully five minutes, before the clumsy craft, 
after jibing, would luff up and sail close-hauled 
again on the other tack. It was a curious and para- 
doxical style of navigation. The faster we wished 
to travel the less sail we carried, and we were at our 
best under bare poles or in a dead calm. It was 
only at the approach of danger that our prudent 
skipper hoisted all his canvas, and it was only 
when a clear channel was before him that he boldly 
furled both his sails and allowed his craft to rush 
madly down the stream. For thousands of years 
the indolent Nile mariners have been content with 
this leisurely navigation \ and yet it would be easy, 
by fitting leeboards on one of these craft, to enable 
her to accomplish the downward voyage in less 
than half the time now occupied, for at high Nile 
the river is generally broad and unobstructed by 
rocks, so that a vessel could tack down boldly 
between bank and bank ; it is only at the cataracts 
that caution has to be observed. 

But, slow as it was, our voyage was an enjoyable 
one. After our long marches across the dreary deserts 
it was pleasant to get away from the dust-storm and 
the fiery heat, and float lazily down the broad 
stream. The country on either side looked wonder- 
fully green and fertile to us ; for from the water 
we could not see the barren sands that stretched 



286 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

beyond the narrow belts of cultivation. We drifted 
between palm-groves, pastures, and fields of tall 
maize, past many villages and groaning water- 
wheels, and it was difficult for us to realise that 
the fair shore was but a thin mask in front of the 




NUGGER ABOVE THE SECOND CATARACT. 

world's most hopeless and hideous wildernesses. 
Now we were winding through archipelagoes of 
verdant islands, and now descending long reaches 
two miles in breadth, where our vessel tossed on 
the muddy waves raised by the conflicting wind 
and tide. We skirted the fertile island of Argo, 
which is twenty-five miles in length. We landed 



A SUDANESE SHIPYARD 287 

at several villages on this island in order to pur- 
chase fowls, which the inhabitants, though well 
disposed to us, were unwilling to sell, as they have 
little use for money. Here, too, we saw some large 
gayassas in course of construction on the shore ; 
for Argo is famous throughout the Sudan as a 
great shipbuilding centre. The Mahdi's family 
came from Argo, and were known for many genera- 
tions as expert boat-builders. The timbers and 
knees of these craft are of the hard wood of the 
native acacia, while the masts and planking are of 
imported Norwegian pine ; how this was procured 
while the Dervishes closed the Sudan to trade it 
is difficult to say. 

There were plenty of sailing craft on the river. 
Some, downward bound, performing the same clumsy 
evolutions as our own, a few of them crowded with 
Dervish prisoners, still clad in the Mahdist patched 
jibbas and turbans, on their way to Haifa; others 
upward bound, deeply laden with supplies for our 
troops, rushing through the water under their great 
lateens, the two-masted boats with their sails goose- 
winged. On October 2nd we passed Hafir and 
the scene of our recent fight. Then we shot the 
Hannek, or Third Cataract of the Nile, at that 
season a long series of rapids, through which we 
threaded our devious way between innumerable 
rocks and whirlpools. We were more fortunate 
than two other correspondents who had preceded 
us, and who had capsized here, lost their kits, and 



288 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

drifted several hours down the rapids, holding on 
to the bottom of the overturned and often sub- 
merged boat. 

It was now, amid these really dangerous rapids, 
when a slight error of judgment would have brought 
instant shipwreck and probable loss of life, that 
our old reis showed that he knew his work after 
all. His lazy expression vanished ; his eye keenly 
scanned the broken water round him as he firmly 
held the tiller and shouted his orders as to the 
handling of the sails to the two lads. Generally 
with the head of his vessel pointing up-stream and 
foresail set to give him good steerage-way, he 
cleverly guided the boat, so that, well in hand, she 
drifted stern foremost between the numerous 
dangers, rocks always close to him on either side 
and angry whirlpools ever and anon rising at his 
bows as if with intent to throw the gayassa off 
her course, and dash her on the treacherous needles 
of rock that lay in wait beneath the foaming water. 
Sometimes he sailed across the river to seek the 
safest channel through a rocky reef; having found 
it, he placed his boat in mid-entrance of it, and 
then, having done all that lay in his power, he 
loudly invoked the assistance of Allah, and left 
her to be swept helplessly down the boiling rapid, 
escaping destruction by but a few yards on either 
hand. Sometimes, when he perceived no serious 
difficulties ahead, he triced up his sail to allow 
the boat to drift the faster; on the other hand, 



A NILE SKIPPER 289 

when approaching an exceptionally dangerous bit 
of water, he carried mainsail as well as foresail, so 
that the vessel remained practically stationary, the 
wind pressure just counteracting the influence of 
the current ; and he was thus enabled to scan the 
broken water below him at leisure, select his road, 
and form his plan of action, before reducing canvas 
again and allowing the boat to be carried down. 
The old reis rose in my estimation ; for though, 
when in safe reaches of the river, lazy, awkward in 
the handling of his boat, frequently running into the 
bank, or grounding on a shoal through sheer careless- 
ness, he was always, when put on his mettle by the 
perils of a cataract, the able skipper, prompt in action, 
possessing unerring judgment and iron nerve. When 
descending a cataract it' is, of course, always well 
to have a contrary wind, as was the case that day. 
When a south wind combines with the torrent to 
drive a vessel through these rock-sown rapids, the 
most skilful reis can have but little control over 
her course, and it must be by good luck chiefly 
that disaster is avoided. 

In the evening of the same day we came to the 
ruins of an old Roman fort, crowning a height on 
the left bank. Here the channel is much narrowed, 
being hemmed in by rocky bluff's. The Nile, pour- 
ing through this defile, is dashed into a wild con- 
fusion of breakers, whirlpools, and shifting eddies. 
It was an extraordinary and ever-changing spectacle. 
The water boiled and roared around us as in a 

T 



290 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

violent tide-race at sea. In the midst of a still 
piece of water a whirlpool would suddenly form ; 
gyrating with ever-increasing velocity, it would 
yawn wider and wider, as if preparing to swallow 
up our vessel, and then disappear as suddenly as 
it had arisen. Next a streak of foaming water 
would shoot hissing athwart the channel, as if it 
were some javelin hurled at us by the angry river 
spirit, strike our vessel on bow or stern, and whirl 
her round like a teetotum. Near the banks the 
water was almost still, but we found it impossible 
to creep up along them and so pass the central 
eddies, for a strong undertow always sucked us 
out into the vortex. In this strange place we 
remained quite an hour without making any pro- 
gress, buffeted by the steep waves and the whirl- 
pools, often revolving dizzily, while round and round 
us ever seemed to spin the ruined Roman castle 
on the hill. Sometimes we contrived to steal down 
to the lower end of this race, but then, even as if 
the jinn of the whirlpool were playing with their 
captives, up would spring some sudden malicious 
counter-current to sweep us back again to our 
former position. It was just such an enchanted 
piece of water as one reads of in the old fairy 
tales, from which the hapless mariner can never 
effect his escape once his vessel has been drawn 
within the magic circle. Oshea, who knew these 
narrows well, told us that boats were sometimes 
kept tossing about here for three days or more 



A WIFE IN EACH PORT 291 

before they could get through. We were more 
fortunate ; for suddenly, I know not how, our boat 
shot out of the uncanny gulf, and we drifted 
away. 

On October the 3rd we went down the Kaibar 
cataract, which presents no serious difficulties, and 
on the 4th reached the large village of Kub-el- 
Selim on the west bank, a thriving-looking settle- 
ment surrounded by great groves of date-palms. 
This was the country of Oshea, and he was to 
leave our service here, so we put him on shore. 
He insisted on taking us to see his house. I now 
realised that our camel-driver was a man of con- 
siderable importance when at home. He was a 
member of the chief family of the place, and his 
brother was sheikh of the village. Oshea owned 
many date-trees and cattle. He possessed a spacious 
house of many chambers, wherein dwelt his wife 
and children. He had a second wife at some 
place further north, and told us that he now in- 
tended, despite his years, to invest a portion of 
the wages he had received from us in the purchase 
of yet a third and younger wife, for whom he 
intended to set up an establishment in Dongola. 
He would thus never be far removed from some 
home and family during his wanderings up and 
down the Nile. Hospitable as behoves an Arab, 
Oshea regaled us with coffee, cakes, and dates 
from his own palm -groves, and gave us a fat 
sheep to take on board with us. 



292 CRUISES ON LATEEN-RIGGED CRAFT 

On October the 5th we reached Kosheh, delivered 
the gayassa to the authorities, and travelled to 
Cairo by train and steamer. 




A High-peaked Sail. 



INDEX 



Admiralty warrants, to fly blue 
ensign, 259; advantages of, 260. 

Age of a boat, 11, 13. 

Agreement between master and 
crew, 263. 

Alerte, 56 tons, age of, 12; 1 16; 
removal of ballast from, 178. 

Almanac (nautical), 195. 

Amateur experiences, 1 19. 

Anchor, dangers of fouling, 148 ; 
parts of an, 150, 151 ; floating, 
153; necessity of two, 179. 

Arab, crew, 27 1 ; skipper, 269. ^ 

dhow, 267 ; before the wind, 

273- 

fantasiUy 278. 

Azimuth compass, 225. 

B 

Bahia, courtesy of officials at, 260. 

Balance of sails, 138. 

reef, 76. 

Ballast, 45 ; iron and water, 46 ; 
sand, 47 ; in an open boat, 158 ; 
in a cruiser, 178. 

Barometer, 208 ; trustworthiness 
of, 209 ; appreciated at last by 
Dutchmen, 216 ; use of ther- 
mometer in conjunction with, 
217 ; Admiral Fitzroy's rules, 
218. 

Battens in sails, 84. 

Beaching a boat, 166, 167. 

Beam sea, dangers of, 163. 



Bearings, observations by cross, 
224 ; obtaining distances by 
means of cross, 233. 

Bends ; see Knots. 

Berthon folding boats, 190. 

Bilge pieces, 48. 

Blocks, 39 ; swivel, 40. 

Board of Trade Rules, 238 et seq, 

Bobstay, 105. 

Boom, advantages and disadvan- 
tages of, 64 ; lacing mainsail to, 
86, 95 ; of a cutter, 95. 

Bowline ; see Knots. 

Bowsprit of a cutter, 94 ; shrouds, 
95 ; whiskers, 106. 

Bridges, dangers of, 1 71; advice in 
passing, 172. 

Bringing up, 146, 147. 

Buoys, explanation of chart ab- 
breviations, 201. 



Cabin fittings, 186. 

Cable-laid rope, 27. 

Capsizing halyards, 122. 

Carvel-built boats, 44. 

Cat boat, 73. 

Cataracts of the Nile, skill of Arab 

rets in passing, 288. 
Centre-board, 47, 50, 51. 
Centre of effort, 20, 21. 
Centre of lateral resistance, 17. 
Chain, stowing of, 187. 
Chainplates, wear and tear of, 

II. 



294 



INDEX 



Charts, plane, 195 ; Mercator's, 
196; measuring distances on, 
198 ; explanation of signs on, 
200. 

Clew of a sail, 97. 

Clinker-built boats, 44. 

Clipbooks, 41. 

Coasting cruises, 194. 

Coble, 49. 

Coir cable, 180. 

Comb cleat, 122. 

Compass, 181 ; deviation of, 182 ; 
variation of, 197. 

Cooking-stove, 185. 

Cranse iron (on bowsprit), 105. 

Cruiser, best type of, 176. 

Cuban blockade, experiences in, 

57-63. 
Currents in a river, 1 70. 
Customs regulations, 258. 
Cutter, 91 et seq. 



Deadeyes, 103. 

Deviation of a compass, 182, 183. 

Dinghy, how to tow a, 189 ; mast 
and sails for, 191 ; how to prevent 
a dinghy coming alongside, 193. 

Dongola to Kosheh, 281 et seq. 

Dredging in getting underway, 130. 

Drogue, 153, 154. 

E 

Eddibs in the Nile Cataracts, 
290. 

Effort, centre of, 20. 
El Hamdi arab dhow, 268. 
Estuary navigation, 235. 
Examination of a yacht, 9. 



Falcon (lifeboat), description of, 53; 
cruise of, 53. 



Falcon (yawl), 107, 119, 143, 144, 

168 J dimensions of, 177. 
Florida Keys, cruise along, 54, 55. 
Fog signals, 248, 249. 
Foresail sheets, iii. 
Forestay, fitting of, 104. 
Full and bye sailing, 131. 



Gaff of a cutter, 96. 

Galvanic action on bolts, 10. 

Gammon iron, 94. 

Gayassa, a Sudanese, 282; negotiat- 
ing rapids, 284 ; leeway of, 285 ; 
wearing, 285. 

Getting under way, 127 et seq. 

Grommet, 31. 

H 
Half-decked boat, 42; advan- 
tages of, 43, 89. 
Handy Billy, 38. 
Hawser-laid rope, 26. 
Hitches j see Knots. 



' In irons,* 135. 
Insurance of yachts, 264 ; 
clause, 265. 



l2Q 



Jackyard topsail, 100. 

James' folding boat, 190. 

Jib, used as spinnaker, 87, %Z 
number of, 97; cut of, 98 
traveller, 112; setting a, 124 
taking in a, 125. 

sheet, 41. 

topsail, 104. 

Jibing, 137. 



Kbdge, 180. 

Keel, false, 47 ; bilge, 48. 



INDEX 



295 



Keeping at sea, 236. 

Ketch, 116. 

Knots, overhand, 32 ; reef, 32 ; 
granny, 33 ; common bend, 33 ; 
half hitch, 33 ; clove hitch, 33 ; 
timber hitch, 33 ; Blackwall 
hitch, 34 ; rolling hitch, 34 ; 
bowline, 34 ; running bowline, 
34 ; bowline on a bight, 35 ; 
fisherman's bend, 35 ; topsail 
halyard bend, 35 ; topsail sheet 
bend, 35 ; sheepshank, 35 ; reef 
pennant bend, 123. 



Lanterns necessary on a 
CRUISER, 181. 

Lateral resistance, centre of, 1 7. 

Leach of a sail, 97. 

Lead-lines, 202 ; method of casting, 
202, 203 ; arming the lead, 293. 

Lee-boards, 52, 53, 54, 55. 

Lee helm, 22. 

Leg-o'-mutton sail, 70. 

Lights, explanation of chart ab- 
breviations, 291 ; on small boats, 
242 ; on fishing -boats, 245 ; on 
ships at anchor, 247. 

Log and line, 204 ; heaving the 
log, 205 ; patent logs, 205 ; 
ground -logs, 234. 

LufF of a sail, 96. 

Lug-sail, dipping, 65 ; standing, 
66; balance, 79, 80, 81. 

M 
Madeira surf boats, 167. 
Main and mizzen rig, 83. 
Mainsail, stowing a, 121 ; setting a, 

121 ; reefing a, 122 ; bunt of a, 

127. 
Mainsheet fitting, 109. 



Mariner's compass, i8r ; deviation 
of, 182 ; variation of, 197. 

Masthead gear, 92. 

Meteorological ofiice, excellence of, 
211. 

Mizzen bumpkin fitting, 83. 

Mooring a yacht, 149. 

N 

National Lifeboat Institu- 
tion Rules, 165. 

Navigation of small boats, give and 
take necessary, 255. 



Oars, necessity of, 164 ; use of in 

beaching an open boat, 166. 
Oil on water, 155. 
Open boat sailing, 158, 159 ct seq. 



Parcelled rope, 27. 

Parrals, 96. 

Peak (of a mainsail), 97 ; halyards, 

108; downhaul, 110. 
Pearson's Almanac^ 195. 
Picking up moorings, 146, 147. 
Pilot signals, 257. 
Pointed sterns, 63. 
Pooped, danger of being, 141, 143, 

144. 
Preventer backstays, 104. 
Pumps, 178. 
Purchases, single whip, 36; whip- 

upon-whip, 37 ; gun-tackle, 37 ; 

luff-tackle, 37; watch-tackle, 38; 

Handy Billy, 38; luff-upon-luff, 

38. 



Racking a purchase, 39. 
Rashness of amateurs, 210. 



296 



INDEX 



Reef pennant or earring, 122. 
Reefing a mainsail, 122. 
Registration of yachts, 261. 
Riding out a gale, 143, 156. 
Rig of a boat, 64 et seq. 
Rigging screws, 103. 
River sailing, rules of, 173. 
Roller foresail, 90. 
Rudder, action of, 23, 24. 
Rules of the road at sea, 261. 
Runners and runner tackle, 104. 
Running before a gale, 142. 

before the wind, 136, 137, 

138, 140. 

by the lee, 136. 

rigging (of a cutter), io6 et seq. 



Sailing dinghy, advantage of, 

191. 

punt, 56. 

Scowing an anchor, 151. 

Seamanship, 118 et seq. 

Seine, bore in the, 170. 

Selection of a yacht, 4, 5. 

Selvagee strop, 39. 

Served rope, 27. 

Serving mallet, 27. 

Sheet, belaying-pin, 161. 

Shrouds, fitting of, 103. 

Single-handed cruising, 2. 

Sky forecasts, 220. 

Slant, waiting for a, 222. 

Sliding gunter, 77, 78. 

Sloop rig, 85. 

Snotter, 68. 

Sound signals, 252. 

Spinnaker, loi ; setting a, 126. 

Splices, short, 28; long, 29, 30; 

eye, 31 ; cut splice, 31. 
Spritsail, 67 ; barge, 69. 
Squaresail on cutter, 142. 



Stability of boats, 15, 

Steamer lights, 240. 

Stores necessary in cruising, 185. 

Storm warnings, 215. 

Stowing sails, 149. 

Stropped blocks, 39, 40. 

Suakin to Massowah cruise, 266 et 

seq. 
Surf, boats in, 166, 167; method 

of landing through, 169. 



Tabernacle for mast, 82. 
Tack (of a sail), 97 ; tricing line, 

108. 
Tacking, principle of, 20 ; practice 

of, 133- 
Tackle ; see Purchase. 
Thermometer, use of at sea, 217. 
Throat (of a mainsail), 97. 
Tides, 200, 206; speed of, 208; 

variations in set of, 230. 
Timber in boat construction, 45. 
Topmast of cutter, 93. 
Topping lifts, 109. 
Topsail, jibheaded, 99 ; yard, 100 ; 

setting a, 100, 126. 

jib, 104. 

gear, 115. 

Towing a dinghy, 189. 

lights, 241. 

Trysail, 102, 151. 

U 

Una boat, 73, 74, 75. 
Underbowing the tide, 227. 



Variation of the compass, 

197. 
Voyage, description of a, 222. 



INDEX 



297 



w 

Water ballast, 46. 

Weather helm, 22. 

Weather wisdom of sailors, untrust- 

worthiness of, 211, 212, 213, 220, 

221. 
Whipped rope, 28. 
Wind, action of, on sails, 18, 19. 
Windermere yachts, 16. 



Wormed rope, 27. 



Yacht, selection of, 4, 5 ; exami- 
nation of, 9 ; best type of cruis- 
ing, 176. 

Yawing of a yacht when running, 
137, 140, 141. 

Yawl, 113; advantages of, 115. 



Printed by T. and A. Constable, (late) Printers to Her Majesty 
at the Edinburgh University Press 



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